Road Safety on the Malaysian road today is synonymous to Mat Rempit(s) (Mat Rempit had rode themselves into Wikipedia) and you can't help coming across one of them showing off their stunt on the roads. Dangerous it is but fearless it is to these bunch of road menace and worst off they are causing danger on public roads as well in housing estates. How serious can this "culture" be in years to come?
Firstly, motorcycle and now scooters have become a convenient mode of transport even for schoolchildren to school. More shocking is you will see these schoolchildren riding without helmets and zooming on the streets as well as to school. Soon they start learning Mat Rempit lingos;
Wheelie : standing motorcycle on rear wheel while front wheel on the air
Superman : Laying on the bike with both hand still hold the handle.
Baring : Laying on the bike where the leg is touching the handle, the inverse way of Superman.
Skating : Standing on the motorcycle with a leg on the handle bar and the other on the seat.
Cilok : Weaving left and right between cars at high speeds.
Wikang : The name wikang is actually a contraction of wheelie belakang in
Korner :Rounding a turn with enough lean to bring the side of the motorcycle in contact with the ground.
Pacak : Literally means standing idle like a stick in Malay, the pacak technique is the technique of lifting
the motorcycle 90-degrees vertical with the front wheel raised. The pacak technique is almost as
same as the wheelie, but is performed when the motorcycle is stationary with the rider standing.
Source : Mat Rempit lingos from Wikipedia
(a) What are the parents and teachers doing about this?
(b) Are the authorities going to act on this before it gets too late?
(c) Who is to blame if something untoward happens?
(d) Is Putera UMNO to set up clubs for Mat Rempit?
It starts with when parents sending their children to school nearby without helmets and as the child grows, it becomes a habit and eventually a norm to zip around on their motorbike/scooter without helmets. As they get "too" familiar with the machine, they start modifying and starts comparing with their peers before it soon gets into a competitive feel which slowly gets onto the roads.
In kampungs today, you will see many young children modifying their bicycles and doing wheelie. Is this the start of the future Mat Rempits?
Malaysian Government through ruling political party have also turned Mat Rempits into law enforcers against snatch thieves by Chairman of Putera UMNO, Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim ("head of Mat Rempit?") by offering RM50. How ridiculuos can one be? Better to convert these Mat Rempits into volunteer police constables to overcome manpower shortage in the police force as they would have no fear performing "korner", "cilok" on roads or at the narrowest lanes.
Would the authorities position their officers in housing estate with nearby secondary schools and book these public health threat? Good example would be in the Taman Sxxxxxxxxxa where the Federal Territory Minister lives as you see students without helmets (some with pillion rider) and hear noisy exhaust pipes. Better off, you can also look at "tudung" girls riding scooters at quite a decent speed without helmets and the guys would be trailing behind.
So please let's have a safer road we can travel on and reduce the losses from motor accidents which will cause misery to people involved. We want road safety for all.
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