Son of the White Man's Curse

So, I suppose you are all dying to hear what transpired after I hit the Toyota Hilux last week? Well, even if you are not dying to know, just merely a little bit sick to know, I will fill you in anyway.

Basically, I decided to break the White Man's Curse. How did I do it? Well, let me elaborate...

As you will recall, I slammed (well, more like gently nudged) into the back of a Toyota Hilux pickup while going downhill on a wet road. Not good. Here in Malaysia, the person hitting you from behind is deemed to be at fault, even though the person in front slams to a halt on a whim.

The guy I hit was a fairly pleasant middle aged contractor who claimed that his car was brand new (yeah right!) that the new bumper (which I had barely dented) would cost RM 2,800 (approx. USD 800) to replace. Knowing that this is an outrageously inflated sum, I immediately smelled that potent odour of Bulls**t mixed with the White Man's Curse!

After I swapped phone numbers with the man and went about my business, I made discrete inquiries via a friend of a friend who has intimate contact with the local motor business. I found out what I suspected, which was that the bumper in question could easily be obtained for less than half the price being asked by my "victim".

So, I activated Plan B, which was to claim on the insurance. It means losing my NCB (No claims bonus) and a small fine paid to the traffic police for causing the horrific accident in the first place, plus forests of paperwork and police reports, but it saved me the humiliation of being ripped off. So it is possible - just - to beat the White Man's Curse.

For your information, here are some photos of the horrific damage done to my own car by the gut-wrenching collision between my Matrix and the Hilux. Try not to laugh too much OK?



You should have seen the other guy!!