Who can we trust?

The Kesas crash and reporting makes me wonder where the truth is.

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By Awang Bokcheh

Most of us who have access to social media may have seen the video of Mat Rempit involved in a horrific crash on the Kesas Highway early yesterday morning. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4HjbnQSaHY )

With more than 450,000 reported road crash cases a year, we Malaysians may have been desensitized to the horror of crashes. However, the latest viral videos and photographs on that illegal race that have been circulating through WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter may have changed all that. I am sure like me, you were shaken to see how ugly it could be. Like me, you would also have been surprised to see how far our society appears to have regressed after 58 years of independence.

Immediately after watching the videos, most people probably reacted in the same way: “Oh my God! Sure mati lah”. Or, “How many people died?”

No, it’s not that we’re amused by the number of deaths. It’s just that it is only logical to think that no one could possibly survive when illegal racers stumble and fall at breakneck speeds of between 120km/h and 150km/hr. Even if only a few of us studied Physics beyond secondary school we would understand what could happen on impact when speeds like that are involved.

Therefore, I am sure many felt like they were taken for fools when reading the Bernama report which quoted the Shah Alam Police Chief ASP Shafien Mamat saying that only one person was injured in the crash. I repeat: Only one person was injured. It appears that no one got killed. How amazing! (http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v8/bm/ge/newsgeneral.php?id=1173636)

Now, I am sure that most of us who have seen the crash video and still photographs are wondering what happened to the rest of the Mat Rempit who were horrifically thrown out of their motorbikes and dragged for meters against the guardrail and along the tarmac at the crash scene.

Are their bodies made of steel? Do they have powers and strength like Superman?

Berita Harian reported that the police were hunting for five Mat Rempit seen in the video. This give the impression that they survived the crash unscathed! They must have fled the scene. Another amazing feat! (http://www.bharian.com.my/node/83846)

Never mind. I am still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe our Mat Rempits are really Superman.

But then going back to the photographs and the videos it doesn’t seem realistic for the human body to be able to withstand the impact from that kind of crash. Besides, the viral photographs from unidentified sources showed some really gory images of the victims.

The question now is “Who do we trust?” Social media, mainstream newspaper reports, or the police?

Yes, we must always be careful with the social media as there are lots of sick-minded rumour mongers out there who create all sorts of stories (and photographs) either for the sake of trolling, getting likes, creating disharmony, or to support whatever personal agenda that they may have.

Having said that, the credibility of mainstream media is questionable too. We all know that the mainstream media has been ‘tamed’ and is lame in their reporting. Poor reporting quality, lack of investigative journalism skills; and the tendency to play down stories for reasons that only God knows why.

Now, can we believe the statement that came from police in this case?

I may be arrested if I said that I didn’t believe the police. So I will say that I choose to believe the police statement. I do not want to say that there is some cover-up involved either because I don’t think that any VVIP kids were involved in this crash. The kids must have come from some low-cost flats or been brought up in poor neighbourhoods. So, I do trust the police that only one person was injured. All the more because the news was reported by the national news agency Bernama, and not Mongolian Daily News or something like that!

However, this leads to another question. If the event really took place in Kesas as reported, I wonder why the highway operator did not notice the illegal gathering of Mat Rempits and spectators. There most probably would have been hundreds of them. Why weren’t the police notified as a preventative measure? Isn’t the Kesas highway equipped with CCTV cameras and a traffic patrol team? Highway users pay a hefty sum of money at toll gates and a few times at that so I wonder why the security on the highway is so lax.

The poor driver (or owner) of the Proton Exora which was hit in the accident must be innocent but at the wrong place and wrong time.

Last but not least, I feel sorry for my beloved country.

I see a failed nation. Not only are its’ economic and political strengths under attack but the social fabric is fraying. I also feel sorry for myself because I don’t know who to trust anymore. But I trust my feelings when I say we’ll continue to regress if we don’t apply the brakes; if we don’t do something quickly. Forget Vision 2020. What happened to the National Integrity Plan?

Malaysia can only succeed if we speak the truth; face reality; identify our issues and work on them. We must be firm. We must be transparent.

Awang Bokcheh is an FMT reader