Fifteen young Malaysians with tremendous potential had their lives ended following a bus accident.
The bus driver has 18 traffic summonses (penalty notices), 13 of them for speeding. The bus itself had 21 summonses with five not yet settled.
To dismiss all this as fate is to rationalise irresponsibility and deny accountability.
There must be a limit to the amount of traffic summonses, especially in this day and age when information is available through computerisation. The sheer irresponsibility exhibited by the traffic police division is unacceptable. Are these standards that bring pride to the police and the Road Transport Department (JPJ)?
Those responsible should be held to account. Their head should be sacked. Of the 18 summons, 13 summonses are specifically for speeding. There must also be a limit to the number of occasions fines are ‘compounded’ and paid. Even to get one summons for a parking violation frightens many of us.
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These are serial offenders and such conduct continues because of a lax attitude and alleged corruption. Let us call a spade a spade. Also because of the casual attitude of the traffic police and the JPJ, precious lives are lost. There have been allegations of corruption within Puspakom. Yet no one is held accountable.
JPJ and the issue of driving licences is another area of concern. We see drivers who have no idea of or no respect for the law securing driving licences. How is this possible?
Investigate and go after the people responsible for this state of affairs. Some wonder whether they have sources of income apart from their salaries. Given such concerns, the wealth and income sources of some enforcement personnel need to be inspected.
We do not need new regulations. Enforce existing regulations strictly. It would be unfair to impose further restrictions on operators who are abiding by the law. They cannot become the victims because those entrusted to uphold and enforce the law are not doing their work. We have enough rules and regulations.
What is bleeding us is alleged corruption and a total lack of accountability. While 13 summonses are for speeding, I wonder what the remaining five violations cover! It is amazing that they have only settled five out of 21 summonses. Are the enforcement personnel sleeping?
What we lack most in this country is accountability. We recently had a gas explosion and this was news globally. Yet who has been held accountable?
Petronas, the supplier, appears to be treated as untouchable. It is a government-linked company that has some big titled people on its management. Were the developers, the Subang Jaya City Council and others cited to deflect responsibility?
If there is electricity disruption due to outages, Tenaga Nasional Bhd is held to account. In a similar vein, Petronas has to be held accountable. Is it our titled system that makes this difficult?
If they had any sense of accountability and honour, the chairman and managing director should have resigned. But this does not happen in Malaysia as we have many titled personalities and organisations who appear to be above the law. After all Petronas is an off-budget agency.
Race is another factor that comes in. If the incident had involved an ethnic minority driver, then certain politicians would have called out or blamed the driver for being drunk or on drugs.
Both these instances – the bus tragedy and the gas fire outbreak – could have been avoided had there been vigilant enforcement. The typical Malaysian excuse is to blame everyone and everything else – the driver, the brakes, vehicle maintenance – while camouflaging those in responsible positions.
This mindset must change. While the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is portraying itself as tackling corruption, questions have been raised about whether there may be selective prosecution.
Many are the raids that have been well written in the press with photographs of money, gold bars and foreign currencies recovered. Yet in some cases, there is no further action. And even if there is action, none is disclosed.
Questions remain about cases involving VIP individuals caught with luxury cars and pots of gold. Have these cases been categorised as ‘NFA’ (no further action)? This appears to enhance the perception of selective prosecution.
In any case, why is the term of the MACC head extended? Is it because it is difficult to find a replacement who would remain loyal to the cause?
The appointment of a new candidate may give rise to a change in political loyalties. Is that the reason for it being better avoided at this stage?
Powerful personalities are involved, a good number of them from the opposition. Also, individuals with immense resources can make a difference to how things proceed.
At one end, power is in question, and the balance between pragmatism, justice and fairness gets blurred with clarity being sacrificed. How do we explain all this to the parents of the children who have died? Or to those who have lost their homes and belongings in the gas fire?
The consequences are not considered. Accountability is not enforced. And the blame culture continues. When will this cycle of irresponsibility be broken? Is “Madani” (the government’s civil and trustworthy slogan) making a difference?
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
