OBIKE: THE NEW TALK OF THE TOWN

Introducing OBike, a paid bike sharing service scattered in all the major cities throughout Klang Valley has somehow changed the means of transportation among Malaysians and tourists alike.

I would like to highlight some of the pros on this OBike sharing service and how it affects the lifestyle of Malaysians in major cities especially my hometown, Kuala Lumpur. Among the benefits they have in this new thing in town is that they decrease the city traffic congestion in everyday work commute, increases healthy everyday lifestyle among the city dwellers and putting Kuala Lumpur in line with other world class major cities in the world.

 

What OBikes looked like in the middle of Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Photo is courtesy of https://amanz.my/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Obike-Malaysia-Kuala-Lumpur-IMG_5773.jpg

A bike sharing service goes way back in highly developed countries like the United Kingdom and other European countries as they all went through a stage where almost everyone drives a car to commute to work or just simply do their weekly groceries only to realise decades later that it is doing more harm than good to the environment and life qualities. European countries like Germany, France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and not to mention the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan mass produced the highest number of armoured vehicles and war planes during the Second World War and this has given them way more experience in any countries in the world that mass production of vehicles with large consumption of fossil fuels resources might have some negativities and probably would not end in a good way at least for the environment.

Parisian Bike Sharing Lot near Boulougne Billancourt, Paris Ile de France. Photo is of my own personal collection. All copyrights reserved.

Today the world has seen all the countries mentioned has the most efficient, high tech, state-of-the-art public transportation that dated back as far as hundreds of years and still in use today by the people in their daily life but somehow people still use bicycle to commute as much as they use the public transport. Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands for example, has more cyclists than cars compared to any other countries in the world today and it is in on her way to become a car free city in decades to come which somehow sounds realistic and possible in every way due to the support from the Dutch people themselves. Everyone who has been or lived in Amsterdam surely know that every Dutch has a bike and they use it to commute if not every time but most of the times for their daily errands.

Boris Bikes up for sharing near Covent Garden, London. Photo is of my own personal collection. All copyrights reserved.

The more you bike the healthier you'll become. Have you seen any obese cyclist compete in a cycling tour or competition? Of course not. Yes, no athlete supposed to be obese but even if he or she is not an athlete and commute every day with bikes, there is no way obesity is an issue for any cyclist. Plus, cycling is a sport where the person need to utilise his lower body all the way from the hip down to the feet and this is somehow equal to what a cardio workout normally does. Cardio workout so far is proven to be efficient in pumping your heart out and burn your unwanted energy and imagine doing this on your daily bike commute, you don't even need to go to the gym or spend extra hour time everyday just for exercise. All the precious time between home and workplace are spent for this casual exercise while you're commuting on your bikes. Healthy lifestyle checked, quality time spent with family checked.

If we were to support the City Hall initiative to use these OBikes or your own bike to commute and less of driving your own car into the city, I have high hopes that in 20 years or maybe even less than that let say 10 years from now, Kuala Lumpur might become a major city in par with other major cities in the world in terms of city life quality.

My own means of inter-town commuting here in my hometown Kuala Lumpur. Photo is of my own personal collection. All copyrights reserved.

I will conclude this with go find an Obike parked maybe in front of the building or bus stop near your neighbourhood, scan the QR code on the handlebar with your smartphones, pay the deposit, unlock the rear lock and hey presto! the bike is ready to ride. 

But first make sure the seat post is there or you're going to get an unwanted injury, and make sure the tyres have sufficient air pressure to roll on the tarmac and to check whether any handle bar is missing or loose in any way that could make it detached while riding and possibly lead to you know what will be next worst thing for someone who rides a bike without its handlebar intact. 

10 kilometres to the office from home? Not a sweat if you're in the Western Europe anytime of the year but here in Malaysia, you just need to bring your spare clothes, hand towel or face towel or both to be exact and pedal it as you please. But despite these sweaty challenges, by the end of day you will definitely got the feeling that they’re all worth it. And I mean that.