Bikes, Rempits & Thieves

The thing that struck me while I was in Hanoi - or should I say brushed by me a half dozen times a day - was the thousands of motorcycles on its streets. Almost overwhelming in number, noise and sheer chaos.

In an ancient city with narrow streets, lanes and backalleys bisecting the endless tubehouses, the motorcycle is the most efficient, cost-effective and cheapest mode of transportation around. Think it's pretty safe to say that the communist government hands every loyal Hanoian an itty little bike at birth. :)


Not as common on the streets here as you'd think.
Yet there are not as many snatch thieves and mat rempits around. At least none that I saw.

Paul : No mat rempits here?
Hanoikid : What are those?
Paul : Bored young idiots who prefer to die young by racing bikes on the streets at midnight.
Hanoikid : Hanoi people work hard. No time to do all that.
Paul : That's actually quite profound in a way.

Same goes for the bustling Chinese megacities as well. Countless numbers of motorcycles on the streets yet not as much street crime.

Which is something I can't say for our country.

Sadly a perennial social problem here. Unruly thugs-on-wheels who participate in illegal street races, snatch thefts and assaults with impunity. A handful smash head-first into walls during their midnight runs but five more hooligans spring up to replace them. Unfortunately our government is a soft touch when it comes to such juvenile delinquents, preferring to spare the rod when it comes to such rotten children.

So much so that our streets aren't at all safe anymore. Even the soft purr of the motorcycle is enough to have us watching our backs.

Sigh.