I started cycling to work in February, mostly to cut cost of running my beloved car, which had begun to take its toll, not as a fun activity gear, but as a tool to get to work and to accomplish my office assignments. My cycling to work had nothing to do with saving the environment until I realized the potential of course. But one car less on the road will not make much difference to the ozone.
What you are about to read is an aftermath of what happened to my outlook on sustainability when my car finally brokedown. With my car at the workshop, I had no choice but to rely on my bicycle and the public transportation. Or course, on a bus or bike, you could only go as far as the office. You’d still need a car to go for an appointment – which surprised me by the fact that the company has no pool car to serve such purpose!
This reminds me of when I first browsed through the classified looking at job vacancies where I found that apart from the main qualification requirement, there was always the “must possess own transport” criteria. Now if I really had been cycling because I want to save the planet, I’d be offended. But I am not. I am just disappointed. Companies nowadays are taking it for granted that it is ok to exploit employees’ cars. Slowly now things are getting clear to me that my back seat was torn because I was carrying product cartons that belong to the company. My rear suspension has bottomed out due to frequent carrying of heavy exhibition materials and so on and so forth.
Will a company not consider someone for an employment if he/she has what it takes to fill the position but not own a car?
Where is the social responsibility in there? What’s in it for someone who, after realizing the true financial, physical, mental and emotional expense of owning a car, chose not to own one? And what about the person who actually cycles everywhere because he/she insists on saving the planet? Will a caring corporate company not support it?
A well-developed system of alternative transportation options can foster a region’s economic growth and sustainability. Sadly this is not how most of us perceive things. Instead, we build highways and byways that charge end users, exit interchanges that collapse and tunnels that would cause flood. Why not have a bike path for safer cycling in the cities? Why not have the last carriage of the commuter train allocated for cyclists and their bikes?
What if we could devise a way to eliminate the financial burden of employees, not by giving huge increment and bonus, but by offering a more sustainable convenience that would support cycle-to-work or bus-to-work campaign. The average Malaysian spends more than RM20,000 per year on car ownership, excluding breakdown and accident repairs. But this isn’t just about financial burden on the employee part. It’s about getting cars less on the road to reduce pollution and road rage and therefore, save the planet for your children and mine.
