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By bigpumpkin | June 29, 2007

Every foreigner I’ve had conversation with about KL has never failed to bring up our problem with signage. In case you haven’t had the good fortune to visit KL, the land of the second tallest tower in the world, driving in KL is an adventure not to be missed.

If you ever wanted to get from A to B, first look up the road map. Be warned that this may not be updated, so the road shown on the map, may actually not exist in real life; as I had the misfortune to discover whilst driving to Kuantan on a coastal road. Suddenly, the road just stopped! But it showed so clearly on the map!

The next challenge would be that you really won’t know whether you’re turning into the right road or not because there isn’t a road name along road. You can try counting lanes but sometimes even this gets confusing. If you ever drive somewhere depending on the highway roadsigns to take you there, forget it. You will always see it too late and miss your turning or not see it at all, because it is hidden discreetly behind a tree. There is a reason for this, you see. The people who go around town plotting locations for signage are the ones in the little kiap chais (100 cc motorbikes) so they really have a whole different perspective to motorists who drive cars. Clever, huh?

Lately, in my area, there is a sudden surge of road signs every corner you turn. Every cross junction has a road name on the left. And then the same road name on the right directly opposite. At a cross junction, you see 8 road signs all in the same vicinity. Then 100 metres down the road, another cross junction with another 8 road signs. It’s signage overload.

I expect DBKL (our local council) to do a good job.

But if you asked me? Someone’s just gotten himself a new road sign contract.

Malaysia. Truly Asia……….

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