The sight of mamak restaurants mushrooming around the city is testament to its popularity as a "lepak" spot for many Malaysians. These places have an added appeal of having large television screens mimicking the open air cinemas of yesteryears.

It has been so popular that crowds have swelled beyond the confines of the shoplots on most instances, spilling over into the carpark lots and adjacent verandahs. Whether this move has been permitted by the local authorities is unknown.

There was a slight hiatus to this practice some years ago when a girl who patronised a mamak stall was killed when she was hit by a car who had lost control and rammed into several tables placed on the roads. However, there was no firm regulation formulated to prevent such recurrences. It has since flourished once again.

My last call proved once again that such a move by mamak operators are putting their customers' lives at risk. A similar accident occured and this unfortunate patient is now fighting for his life.

How many lives are to be lost before the authorities take firm action? Many claim that it is part of the Malaysian culture to have these mamak teh tarik sessions, but is it?

I fear that only more lives will be lost, all because of a dollar's worth of teh tarik.