Why Malaysia's Glow In The Dark Roads Were Doomed To Fail

For a moment, Malaysia looked for illustration it was astir to propulsion disconnected thing futuristic. Imagine cruising done a agrarian road that shimmered nether your wheels. A soft neon way lighting up nan nighttime for illustration a segment retired of "Tron, Southeast Asia Edition." That was nan vision. Roads that glowed without streetlights, redeeming power while making nighttime drives safer. That's a bucket-list-worthy benignant of road.

In a state wherever much than 6,000 road deaths aliases mishaps hap annually, nan thought was implemented on October 28, 2023, erstwhile nan Public Works Department launched nan aviator connected 804 feet of a two-lane roadworthy adjacent Semenyih successful nan authorities of Selangor. The task was portion of a push to trim energy usage and amended roadworthy safety, particularly successful agrarian areas. On paper, it sounded brilliant: use paint infused pinch photoluminescent compounds that sorb sunlight by time and merchandise a glow astatine night. The overgarment would radiance astatine night, helping to guideline drivers while lowering nan nation's lighting costs.

Social media went chaotic erstwhile nan photos dropped. Drivers raved. News outlets drew comparisons to glowing motorcycle paths successful nan Netherlands and experimental highways successful nan United Kingdom and Australia. Malaysia, it seemed, had joined nan nine of nations pushing artistic sustainability. 

But immoderate reported early durability issues, and hinted astatine costs concerns. Within months, nan futuristic glow began to dim. The dream roadworthy was fading earlier astir group moreover sewage to thrust it.

The problem pinch futuristic tech is that it seldom survives interaction pinch nan existent world –- particularly 1 drenched successful tropical rain. Malaysia's glow-in-the-dark roads mightiness person looked sleek successful property photos, but nan country's ambiance quickly became their undoing.

Photoluminescent overgarment useful wonders successful controlled environments. It absorbs UV light, past emits a soft, visible glow erstwhile nan sun sets. But Malaysia isn't precisely gentle connected paint. Heavy rainfall, humidity, and harsh daylight wore nan coating down wrong months. What started arsenic a sparkling pathway soon looked patchy, dusty, and dull. 

And past came nan financial blow. It was revealed that each quadrate metre costs 749 Malaysian Ringgit ($177 successful U.S. money), almost 19 times arsenic costly arsenic modular roadworthy paint. And because it wore retired easily, it would request recoating each 18 months, different expense. To make things worse, erstwhile car headlights deed nan road, nan glow practically disappeared. In short, drivers couldn't moreover spot what they paid for. 

Officials softly admitted by precocious 2024 that nan task wasn't sustainable, some virtually and financially. What was expected to beryllium Malaysia's nighttime invention had go a daylight drain connected nan fund -– a agleam thought dimmed by reality.

Today, Malaysia's glow-in-the-dark roadworthy programme sits successful limbo — excessively costly to expand, excessively faded to showcase. The authorities officially scrapped it successful November 2024. All projected description successful nan states of Selangor and Johor was besides discarded. The Public Works Department said nan task was excessively costly and did not meet nan expected results. Future tests will apt attraction connected cheaper, much durable alternatives.

The Malaysian Ministry of Works is already steering nan speech elsewhere. LED lights will beryllium installed alternatively of glow-in-the-dark successful highly accident-prone areas, expected to amended information without precocious maintenance. Many Malaysians moreover preferred fixing nan existing problems first, for illustration potholes, run-down markings, and roadworthy flooding. Other countries, including nan Netherlands, faced astir identical issues: upwind degradation and  mediocre ray consistency. The Nethelands aviator was softly put connected clasp indefinitely, too.

Symbolically, Malaysia's grounded glow roadworthy became a instruction successful nan limits of innovation. You can't technologist your measurement astir physics — aliases nan monsoon. The extremity was noble: make the champion driving roads safer, greener, and undeniably cooler. But not each agleam thought belongs nether nan sun.  What's near now is nan afterglow of ambition. A reminder that advancement sometimes burns brightest correct earlier it fades.