Eight Underage Boys Mowed Down By A Car, The Driver Sent to Jail But What About the Parents?
I was deliberating within myself whether I should or should not write this post, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and go ahead.
One of the hottest news in Malaysia that has sparked debates all over the country recently is no other than the sentencing of a young woman, Sam Ke Ting, for reckless driving, which resulted in the death of eight teenage cyclists five years ago. So many people feel dissatisfied with the High Court decision, including me, and I will tell you why shortly.
Here's an old video about this high-profile case that has caused an uproar in Malaysia.
Here's the gist of what happened five years ago:
A young woman, Sam Ke Ting, was on her way home after a long day at work. She was driving alone at that wee hour of the morning (3AM). She was traveling on a dark, hilly, and winding highway when she crashed into a group of forty (yes, you read that right) teenagers (13-16 years old) who were riding "basikal lajak" (modified bicycles). Six of them died on the spot, and two others died on the way to the hospital. And the rest were injured.
She had originally been acquitted and discharged by the magistrates' court in Johor Bahru in October 2019. But the victims' family appealed to the High Court, and the judge convicted and sentenced her to six years in jail and fined her RM6,000 (USD1416) for reckless driving.
Sam was only 22 years old when she mowed down the boys.
Pretty intense if you asked me.
Forty teenage boys were racing on the highway at that ungodly hour. They should be at home, sleeping in their parents' care. But they sneaked out or lied to their parents about their whereabouts. A lot of Malaysian felt the judgment was unfair. Before I proceed, let me explain to you the gravity of the case.
This is the "basikal lajak" or the modified bicycle the boys rode on. The underage group was joyriding at 3AM on that stretch of highway.
The specifications of the modified bikes:
High seat
No brake
No bell
Riding without a helmet
Image source: Facebook
And this is how they rode the bike, in a big group, on the highway, late at night.
And in this video this group of boys were racing and almost got hit by a car.
Eight boys died senselessly on that fateful night five years ago. They were all underaged and sneaked out in the dead of night without their parents knowing. The driver, Sam Ke Ting, was convicted and sentenced to 6 years in jail with MYR6000 fines. And here is the interesting thing that caused an uproar in Malaysia. The boys' parents were not hauled up by police or courts. They should be charged and punished for gross negligence of their young children's lives. But nope. Nothing has been done to their parents. I agree that the boys were at fault and the driver was wrong too. Unfortunately, the boys died, and the driver was sent to jail. The parents should be held responsible too. In fact, the parents have the biggest share of responsibility: who bought the bikes? The parents knew their kids loved to race on the roads, and the bikes were modified. Their parents knew to some extent their love for dangerous racing on modified bikes. The parents knew, and some even admitted that they couldn't control or impose discipline on their kids. So they just let them be. They let them endanger their lives and the life of other road users. This tragedy was preventable but the people who hold the most responsibility didn't do their job properly.
It's just very wrong to let the kids roam at night doing such a dangerous and illegal race at such an ungodly hour. But nope. The parents were not held responsible for this tragedy.
I could go on and on about parenting failures, weird Malaysian law, or things like that, but I end this here. It is very upsetting how unfair it was for Sam Ke Ting to carry the weight of the blame while no actions were taken against the parents.
That's it for now. If you read this far, thank you. I appreciate it so much! Kindly give me a follow if you like my content. I mostly write about making art, life musing, and our mundane yet charming family life here in Klang Valley, Malaysia.
Thank you for visiting and reading my post. I hope you like it!
My First NFT Collection – Stencil 2017 – Is Now Available On OpenSea
My Second NFT Collection – Oli Kawaii Verse – Is Now Available On OpenSea
Lead image source: Pixabay
