Two lessons from the Tiger’s untimely demise

Road safety awareness and enforcement must be rectified and the nation needs to rid of the ugly side of Islam.

COMMENT

By James Ang

If there is one thing that I’ve learnt during my years as a medical student, it is this, “Nothing is certain in the world of medicine except two things: the fact that you were born into this world and the fact that you will one day die.” But a natural death is not as painful as an unnatural death, especially one in which its circumstances could have been largely avoidable.

The sudden passing of the revered Karpal Singh is undoubtedly an irreplaceable loss to our beloved nation. The moniker ‘Tiger of Jelutong’ befits him in every sense, owing to his struggles for justice and fairness that know neither fear nor favour amidst darkness in our country. His passing marks a day in our nation’s history when a light of reason and integrity has been cruelly flicked off.

Nevertheless, the slain Tiger’s unfortunate passing brings to attention two important lessons that everyone, including the powers-that-be, should take note of:

Lesson 1: The state of our nation’s road safety

Insofar as available information is made known in the media at the time of me writing this, the true nature of what exactly happened that fateful morning to the MP of Bukit Gelugor’s ill-fated Toyota Alphard remains shrouded in mystery.

Could it have been the lorry driver’s fault, since traces of cannabis were found in his urine sample?

Then again, cannabis can still be detectable in the urine for up to a week or more after exposure, depending on several factors. There were also several seemingly unverified reports going around on the web that the lorry driver did not indicate his signal when changing lanes.

Could Karpal’s driver equally be at fault? It has been learnt that Karpal’s vehicle has been issued 29 traffic summonses, many of which were for speeding and 15 of which remained outstanding. This may also raise suspicions that Karpal’s driver might have been guilty that morning of what has killed so many Malaysians on the road over the years – speeding.

Whatever it is, the truth behind that fateful incident remains unknown at the time of me writing this, and all we can do is to speculate. More importantly, it brings to mind the level of awareness and enforcement in our country when it comes to road safety.

Speeding, changing lanes or making turns without proper signaling, ignoring traffic lights and poor maintenance of vehicles are among the many causes of our country’s high death rates on the roads.

These are nothing new, Malaysian drivers are undoubtedly one of the worst when it comes to courtesy on the roads and regard for traffic laws.

In my frequent travels on the North-South Expressway itself, I have seen countless vehicles of all types flouting a dozen traffic rules as if they were non-existent. And guess what, even vehicles with Singaporean registration numbers, of which I assume their drivers ought to be more disciplined due to the island-nation’s strict traffic enforcement, seem to have no regard at all for our traffic rules right after they cross the Causeway, which goes to show how little respect they have for our traffic rules due to a lack of proper enforcement.

Even pedestrians are at a high risk of getting knocked down on Malaysian roads. The lack of properly designed zebra-crossings and functional traffic lights simply make crossing Malaysian roads life-threatening in itself.

I recall several times when I was almost knocked down when crossing roads just because there were unscrupulous drivers and motorists who sped off when the traffic light was red.

Mind you, when I was in countries such as Singapore, Japan and Australia, I could cross the zebra-crossings safely without even looking left or right the moment the pedestrian light turned green, but doing so in Malaysia would simply be suicidal.

Once again, the circumstances surrounding the late Karpal Singh’s demise can only be speculated at the present moment. Nevertheless, let us bear in mind that if his unfortunate passing was indeed a direct or indirect result of our state of road safety awareness and enforcement, it may very well be you or me who will be next, unless something urgent is done to rectify this.

Lesson 2: The state of Malay/Islamic fanaticism in our nation

To quote Mahatma Gandhi, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” In the context of our country, I’d like to say, “I like your Prophet, I do not like your Muslims. Your Muslims are so unlike your Prophet.”

I simply don’t understand how the likes of Zulkifli Nordin and Nawawi Ahmad can be called politicians or leaders following their insensitive antics in the wake of Karpal’s demise.

On top of that, we are then told that Muslims are not encouraged to use the phrase ‘rest in peace’ because of its seemingly Christian connotations and its implied meaning that non-Muslims would receive God’s blessings after death. And what a time for such a fatwa to be issued i.e. hours after the unfortunate passing of a prominent non-Muslim Malaysian!

I don’t deny the fact that various verses in the Quran reflect similar meanings to what Surah Al-Baqarah 2:39 states: “And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs – those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally.”

And as a Christian myself, I don’t deny the fact that it has been written clearly in Revelation 21:8 of the Bible, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” But even as a Christian myself, I don’t go about telling others that their loved ones are burning in hell just because they don’t profess a faith similar to me. And I’m sure many moderate Muslims out there would be sensitive enough to think the same way as me too.

As the days pass, it seems to me that Malaysia has an increasing number of Muslims who remind me of the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus’ time, as described in the four gospels of the Bible. And it is these Muslims who seem to be tarnishing the good virtues of Islam that Muslims are called to reflect to others.

It is narrated in the hadith of Prophet Muhammad in Sahih al-Bukhari Book 23, Hadith 71, “Narrated Abdur Rahman bin Abi Laila: Sahl bin Hunaif and Qais bin Sa’d were sitting in the city of Al-Qadisiya. A funeral procession passed in front of them and they stood up. They were told that funeral procession was of one of the inhabitants of the land i.e. of a non-believer, under the protection of Muslims. They said, “A funeral procession passed in front of the Prophet and he stood up. When he was told that it was the coffin of a Jew, he said, “Is it not a living being (soul)?”

If there was a Muslim leader in Malaysia who truly embodied the Prophet’s virtues, it is Tok Guru Nik Aziz who, despite differences in stance regarding the hudud issue, held Karpal in high regard as a true defender of the Constitution.

Karpal may have been the figure most critical of hudud implementation, but the humble Tok Guru never once made that a point of enmity between him and the prominent Tiger, instead offering his deepest condolences and expressing regret that the latter was not able to receive proper explanation regarding hudud. I believe the Prophet would also have nonetheless done the same.

Karpal’s untimely passing just seemed to have brought out the ugly side of Islam in Malaysia, which will undoubtedly serve to fuel enmity between Islam and other religions in Malaysia as well. I personally believe that every Malaysian should start reading each other’s holy books in order to promote better understanding between the different religions. I, for one, know that my faith in Christianity is strong, and as such I have nothing to fear even if I quote from the holy books of other religions.

The nation has lost an irreplaceable asset in an unfortunate road accident. I offer my deepest condolences to the family of the late Karpal Singh, Tiger of Jelutong and Lion (Singh) of Malaysia.

Thank you for being a fearless Defender of the Constitution, and may your legacy live on in our hearts and in our struggles for a better Malaysia!