RECENTLY, Malaysians woke up to the devastating news that 15 students had perished in a horrifying road accident.
This comes less than a month after the fatal crash on May 13, which claimed the lives of nine members of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) in Teluk Intan, Perak while, just a few days ago, a family of five perished in a two-vehicle crash at Kilometre 7, Jalan Jerantut-Maran, Pahang.
The question on the minds of most Malaysians now is who is going to be accountable for these deaths? Children lost fathers, parents lost their children, wives lost their husbands ... families are left in devastation.
Are the government and the authorities once again going to point fingers at each other or is someone going to own up and take responsibility for the spate of tragedies?
Social media users have targeted Transport Minister Anthony Loke as the one who should take the fall for this, with some questioning why his maiden statement came some 19 hours after the bus crash.
There are so many questions which need answers here - why was a driver with multiple criminal records, including drug related offences on the road in the FRU case, why was a driver with 18 summonses driving the bus with the UPSI students and if there really was brake failure, why was this not detected earlier during routine inspections?
Deaths on the road have no relation to race, colour or creed - death is colour-blind and can happen to anyone.
The problem here is one that has existed for decades – sadly, the government and the authorities only react after tragedy strikes; there are no pre-emptive precautionary measures taken.
Now after so many lives are lost, the government wants to look at safety concerns on the East-West Highway, conduct an audit on the bus company, introduce mandatory speed limiters etc.
Why are all these being done only after tragedy strikes?
It is time for those concerned to put the horse before the cart and not the other way round.
Heed the advice of the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah who called for more preventive measures to be taken.
The Sultan also called for all relevant authorities to take this tragedy as a lesson, identify any existing shortcomings and implement improvements to prevent similar tragedies from recurring.
As the minister in charge, Loke must take a lead role - it is time for him to shed his unfair label of 'number plate minister' and focus on the more important things.
There is no time for arrogance or high-handedness, people's lives are at stake, and one must be open to constructive criticism to improve road safety and save lives.
Accidents involving heavy vehicles seem to be a norm and something needs to be done immediately.
All forms of corruption, abuse of power, mismanagement etc must be weeded out and the clean-up must be done at all levels.
Malaysians cannot be waking up to devastating news anymore. - June 11, 2025
