Motorbike Madness

What makes Malaysian motorcyclists so special is that they wear back-to-front jackets. This baffles visitors and newcomers, but I was given a perfectly logical explanation - the jacket protects the chest from windchill and squashed bugs while the open back allows ventilation in the hot sticky climate.

Of course, these mopeds weave in and out of traffic in an alarming manner. They are driven on either side of the road and also on pavements. They are immune to traffic lights. On motorways they use the hard shoulder, which is probably just as well as they rarely have rear lights. In the cities, adults wear helmets in accordance with the law, but the numerous children, toddlers and babies on board don't. In the countryside, helmets are fairly rare and it isn't uncommon to see boys as young as ten or twelve riding along village roads.

A small bike can carry anything up to four people, especially if small children are passengers. Loads can be large or interesting - chickens in big round baskets, stacks of newspapers that tower above the driver's head, milk churns. Some bikes have small fruit or drinks stalls attached like sidecars and vendors chug away from their pitches with large colourful umbrellas still up over the bike and stall. Bread bikes have loaves and packets hanging from racks and ice-cream bikes carry their cold bins on the back with bags of buns (instead of cones) hanging down by the rear wheel. Pictured right: ice delivery.

I love all this. But I was horrified recently to see, on a dual carriageway, two bikers overtaking us lying stomach-down on their seats, legs horizontal behind them. These guys were going fast, had no helmets and doubtless little control in the event of their needing it suddenly. Madness.

Many thanks to Kate for letting me use her photo. To see more of her fabulous work, visit http://www.katenorth.com/