ACCUSATION of double standards by the police (and also the media) has once again surfaced after a family of four from Terengganu perished in an automobile accident involving five vehicles in Jalan Renggam-Simpang Renggam, Kluang (Johor) on Monday (June 1).
In the incident, a 19-year-old Mercedes-Benz A250 driver was believed to be racing against his brother who was driving a BMW 530e before the BMW veered into the opposite lane and crashed into four vehicles – a Perodua Alza, Toyota Vios, Proton Wira and another Mercedes Benz – prior to plunging into a ravine.
Four family members in the Toyota Vios, namely Mohd Aiman Mohd Rashid, 36, his wife Nor Azlina Abd Latif, 33, his mother-in-law Semek Mat Soh, 73, and his niece Nur Airish Syifa Sidek, 10, died at the scene while the 22-year-old driver of the BMW died on the way to the hospital.
All the victims were safely buried in Dungun, Terengganu yesterday (June 2) morning but the identity of the perpetrators was withheld by the cops even as Batu Pahat Magistrate’s Court has issued a two-day remand order (till June 3) on the ‘surviving brother’ who is reportedly a Singapore university student.
The application was made to facilitate investigations under Section 42(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for dangerous and reckless driving which carries a jail term of up to five years and a maximum fine of RM15,000 upon conviction.
This was when journalist-turned-communications specialist Sreejit Pillai was flabbergasted as to why the teenager “is getting anonymity in the press and seemingly special treatment”.
“Just two days in remand? Who’s his dad?” he wondered in the NST Online’s comment section while Singaporean YF Phang was curious as to “why the name of the deceased victim was reveal but not the name of suspect and his brother who was the deceased as well”.
Andre Le Ong felt that “parents of the driver should also bare responsibility for not educating the children” with Gan N Roses and Md Mohln reckoned that “the parents should share the lock-up” with their son” for “it’s no less the parents’ fault”.
Nonetheless, Zaharah Bakar hopes that “there’s a lawyer who can assist the victims to sue this guy for the accident”.
The anger was very profound especially across Malay language news portal with netizens openly alleging that the culprits are “two Chinese teenagers who are sons of a Simpang Renggam gambling tycoon”.
It was further claimed that “the towkay reported the person who hit his (surviving) child but unperturbed about the death of other people’s children (accident victims)”.
“This is despite his son(s) (were caught on dashcam of passing vehicles) racing … with his status, the person who hit his child may likely end up in jail,” lamented one commenter while another did not rule out the involvement of “under counter money”.
One commenter called on netizens to follow the case closely to ensure “the culprit doesn’t escape charges” while many wanted “the heaviest possible punishment to be meted out”.
Likewise, some commenters also wondered why fate can be so cruel when four innocent lives were lost when by right “both brothers should be the ones perished in the accident”.
Alas, DAP was dragged into the matter “as the perpetrators are members of his (Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook) tribe” while the judge “is likely to pass a cincai (inappropriate) sentence on the culprit”.
Editor’s Note: Appropriate legal action must be taken against the driver responsible for the fatal Simpang Renggam crash, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
He urged the police to expedite the investigation to ensure that the investigation paper can be referred to the Attorney-General’s Chambers as soon as possible.
“Such driving is highly irresponsible and completely unacceptable,” he pointed out in a statement issued yesterday (June 2). “A driving license is not a license to drive recklessly and cause tragedy to innocent people.” - Focus Malaysia
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