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Public Not Aware Of 'Green Lane' Concept
By Zulkiple Ibrahim
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Does anybody know what is a green lane?
"Definitely a lane or a street like Tiger Lane in Ipoh, Green Lane in Penang and the numerous Lorong Hijau in Rawang," a friend answered giving a curious look.
"Is it something to do with the environment?," asked another friend.
According to the Ottawa Homemakers' Association, a green lane is a facility or concept that paves the way for something to be done fast.
"Green lanes have been in existence since time immemorial," said sociologist Dr Halim Kesuma who is attached to a think-tank organisation.
"But then, the people do not really understand the concept," Halim told Bernama here recently.
LOCAL HISTORY
In the final days of the Melaka Malay Sultanate, Indian Muslim merchants who were disgruntled with their small share of the spice trade allowed the Portuguese invaders to use their junks to capture the strategically important Melaka Bridge.
"That bridge was the green lane to the Portuguese conquest of Melaka," said Halim.
He said there were other green lanes in history, like the Germans marching through the Ardennes Forest in the Second World War and the island-hopping exploits of General Douglas MacArthur.
APPROPRIATE SCENARIO
"The more appropriate depictions of the green lane concept are the fast counters at hospital pharmacies, cinemas, fast-food joints and hypermarkets, said Dr Wung Tzee Wah, a gynaecologist at a private medical centre in Petaling Jaya.
Medical institutions like the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) provide green lanes for disabled patients to collect their medications.
"Provided they call in and make bookings two days earlier," said a UMMC pharmacist who declined to be named.
"We even now have the online prescription which does not involve much paperwork," he said.
As for the fast-food joints and hypermarkets, the facility is usually for the handicapped and those who only purchase a small number of items. "Unfortunately these green lane counters are frequently abused," he said.
In 1998, UMMC was among the medical institutions picked to treat injuries suffered by athletes during the XVI Commonwealth Games. "Then we created a green lane to cater and treat the injured international athletes promptly," the pharmacist said, adding that a similar facility was provided during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit.
HANDICAPPED
"But we rarely find such facility (green lane for the disabled) in banks, offices of government agencies and that of telecommunication, water and power utility companies," said Hashim Marman, a consumerism activist.
Hashim, an engineer, recalled a recent incident he witnessed at a branch of a major bank at Terminal Three of the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, near here.
"A wheelchair-bound customer who appeared to be in pain and exhaustion went to a front counter staff and asked the man whether the bank had any green lane service for handicapped clients.
"The counter staff appeared to be in the dark and asked the disabled client what was a green lane service in the first place, to which the client explained what it was for. An officer came out but the counter staff became agitated and scolded the disabled client, purportedly for not telling what he actually wanted," said Hashim.
LACKADAISICAL ATTITUDE
"Sadly, such scenario still happens today. The green lane facility is a good concept, especially if it is exclusive for the disabled. We have yet to reach that level," he said, adding that green lanes for the handicapped had been in existence in developed countries for quite a while.
"Hopefully, there'll be the day when we no longer see the disabled having to pick a number and wait in long queues at the banks," said Hashim.
-- BERNAMA
