It's About Saving Lives, Stupid!

LET me tell you about a country that has devised a tool to catch criminals in the act of breaking the law, writes Rita Sim (columnist with the New Straits Times)

This tool enables enforcement authorities to track down wrongdoers in many locations, punish them and effectively reduce deaths of innocent people.
For some reason, however, there are people opposing the use of this tool. They say that the tool will "burden" the criminals.
They say that there should be signs put up to alert wrongdoers about the tool, so that they can avoid them (and go on to commit the same atrocity elsewhere, presumably).
The country is Malaysia. The tool is the Automated Enforcement System (AES) and the "criminals" are drivers who speed on the road and run red lights, putting themselves and other road users in danger.
As for those opposing the AES? They are the usual suspects -- political players who see the potential to cause disruption and cast doubt on the project by making opaque statements about "having the people's best interests at heart".

 

Continue reading her article "Politicising life and death" 

 

I couldn't agree with her more. And not because she's my old school mate. Because she is right.

All that I have read and heard is from people attacking the project because it went to the BN's cronies, and that they don't want to enrich the cronies. 

And some petty issues about unsuitable locations of the cameras. Really petty.

 

What's your problem? You don't speed, they don't get rich.

As for the poor locations -- oh. just get over it.

 

Honestly, I don't care who got the project. Someone or other will get the project. Crony, cronies. Or not.  

By the way, that word "crony" is so overused and misused.

 

So, get your politics out of the equation.

 

Never mind that AES  will discourage people from speeding. Isn't that a good thing?

 

Statistics have shown that most fatal accidents were caused by human error which really, means speeding and recklessness.

 

And for heaven's sake, you have a state assemblyman Chang Lih Kang (PKR-Teja) smugly refusing to pay seven fines totalling RM2,100 which he claimed were issued under the AES.

Wow. What a hero!

And then you have Mahfuz Omar (Pas) instigating people to not pay the fines and that he would get 100 lawyers to help the people.

Wow. What a hero!

The number of fatal accidents in the country is alarmingly high. Everyone should be concerned.
I'm sure we all are - except for some idiotic people bent on playing politics.
It seems  most Malaysians want or need to blame someone.
Poor enforcement, poor roads ..poor everything. Never themselves.
So, just blame the weather-lah.

 

We have good roads, you can't deny that. We can improve on enforcement. 

But when enforcement is stepped up,  the very people who cry "bribery" and "corruption" are the very people ready to give "duit kopi".

In this scenario I always believe that no giver,. no taker. And you should always report corrupt officers.

  

The truth is, generally speaking, most Malaysians are horrid and nasty people behind the wheel or on the motorcycle.. They are inconsiderate, they blithely and cavalierly and knowingly break the law - like running the traffic lights, making illegal turns or u-turns and mostly speeding, even on neighbourhood roads.

And motorcyclists are another story altogether. They follow no rules.

We should worry that one day we will all be so immuned to grisly accidents, that we don't care, until of course, it happens to our family.

 

So, enough already. If it can help save lives,.why don't we just give AES a chance?