"Vulcan Post 23 February 2017
Malaysia was recently caught up with the unfortunate news of 8 young boys aged from 13 to 17 passing away due to a tragic road accident. A 22-year-old woman had rammed her car into them while they were cycling. She couldn't brake in time and the victims were killed on the spot.
Many Malaysians had a lot of things to say about this. There were those who immediately found fault with the driver, claiming that she wouldn't have been able to mow down 8 cyclists if she wasn't already driving fast to begin with.
There were those who placed fault on the guardians of these children, reprimanding them for allowing these young children to leave their home during odd hours and not monitoring their behaviour properly. Some have even suggested a punishment for guardians who allow their young children to roam the streets at night.
There were also a fair few who brought up authorities and their stance on this. Some questioned on why there was no action taken if this was a problem to begin with.
This has led to a Facebook user by the name of Zulhazri Abu Bakar to share an opinion of a policeman on the matter. The post highlighted the efforts that the police force have taken before to stop these teenagers from cycling dangerously on the roads during late hours.
The policeman who wishes to remain anonymous speaks of other incidents prior to this. He says that these children were not just from the main Johor Bahru area but came in a group of 30 to 40 from areas such as Plentong, Pasir Putih, Masai, Tampoi, Kempas, Skudai, and Tiram. They were frequently seen not just once or twice but almost every weekend.
"It's not that we did not warn them, we have even used a megaphone to do so. Some of us have even lost our patience and threw their bicycles away not because of any ill intentions but as a reminder so they may feel afraid to repeat this dangerous act," said the post.
"Whenever you headed over to them, they would start screaming and taunting the police by lifting their bikes to the opposite side of the road. This is how it was like usually," said the post. To prove his point, there were two videos attached with the post depicting these teenagers cruising down the roads and doing dangerous acts where they would not have been able to steer away from danger if there was any. They also ignored the sirens of the police officer and kept cycling away. The usual locations these children cycled at were not just at the shoulders of roads but also right in the middle.
He also listed a few hotspots around the area where you would catch them cycling around with no concern on their safety even though 95 per cent of their bicycles were middle-sized and had small tyres. "With every warning, they continued to not heed our words. So when these incidents happen, who's to blame? Of course 50 per cent of us policemen are placed at fault for not taking the right action but where is the role of the parent or guardian that should have been more alert?" questioned the policeman. He ended the post with saying that although he understood that young children would want freedom and have fun, parents should be monitoring their behaviour to not have this kind of incident repeated as most of these children are as young as 10."
Did not pay much attention to the news when it 1st broke except to feel very sorry for the deceased. Not sure if I would have blamed the driver or the guardians/parents of the young kids had I read a bit more about the tragic accident initially.
Am glad to come across this piece of news anyway as it truly helps us to navigate HOW TO PROVIDE appropriate comments on 'the 1st instance' or '1st impression' properly!
1. we usually use OUR assumptions, based on our past experiences and HOW we would have acted, to JUDGE the what actions HAD caused the tragic consequences of 8 young boys age from 13 to 17 years old killed by a car!
Not surprising to read many contributors blamed the woman driver without asking for the FACTs like: how fast was she driving? was she intoxicated? any faults with the car re: brake, lamps, etc., etc.?
2. as for those who blamed the guardians/parents for not properly supervising the kids, except maybe for boys that are pass 16 years old are probably beyond parents' control, and let they out at such late night, there may be needs to find out about: who are these kids? where are they from? why are they doing these dangerous acts in such a place and time? who are their parents? how have they been supervised before this tragedy? did the parents try and fail to get them off the roads? etc.
3. as for those who blamed the authorities for not taking actions as such kids had been doing this for a while. An accident waiting to happen! Why aren't the police doing anything? Again, a legitimate reaction. Yet, there is a need to check IF indeed the authorities had not done anything to get the kids off the streets. Which in this case, the anonymous policeman's post and videos, assuming they are authentic, had done their bits and could not really be faulted.
All these 3 responses tell me one thing: CHECK your assumptions with facts before stating your opinions STRONGLY. If you must let it out of your chest asap, then precede with 'qualifications' e.g. assuming that the police did not take any actions despite the kids' repeatedly putting themselves in danger doing these 'tricks', etc...
Or simply, just hold your tongues and your fingers typing!!
RIP to the dead kids. Condolences to the family and friends. And may justice be served for the woman driver if she is or she is not negligent. A sad tragedy!
Malaysia was recently caught up with the unfortunate news of 8 young boys aged from 13 to 17 passing away due to a tragic road accident. A 22-year-old woman had rammed her car into them while they were cycling. She couldn't brake in time and the victims were killed on the spot.
Many Malaysians had a lot of things to say about this. There were those who immediately found fault with the driver, claiming that she wouldn't have been able to mow down 8 cyclists if she wasn't already driving fast to begin with.
There were those who placed fault on the guardians of these children, reprimanding them for allowing these young children to leave their home during odd hours and not monitoring their behaviour properly. Some have even suggested a punishment for guardians who allow their young children to roam the streets at night.
There were also a fair few who brought up authorities and their stance on this. Some questioned on why there was no action taken if this was a problem to begin with.
This has led to a Facebook user by the name of Zulhazri Abu Bakar to share an opinion of a policeman on the matter. The post highlighted the efforts that the police force have taken before to stop these teenagers from cycling dangerously on the roads during late hours.
The policeman who wishes to remain anonymous speaks of other incidents prior to this. He says that these children were not just from the main Johor Bahru area but came in a group of 30 to 40 from areas such as Plentong, Pasir Putih, Masai, Tampoi, Kempas, Skudai, and Tiram. They were frequently seen not just once or twice but almost every weekend.
"It's not that we did not warn them, we have even used a megaphone to do so. Some of us have even lost our patience and threw their bicycles away not because of any ill intentions but as a reminder so they may feel afraid to repeat this dangerous act," said the post.
"Whenever you headed over to them, they would start screaming and taunting the police by lifting their bikes to the opposite side of the road. This is how it was like usually," said the post. To prove his point, there were two videos attached with the post depicting these teenagers cruising down the roads and doing dangerous acts where they would not have been able to steer away from danger if there was any. They also ignored the sirens of the police officer and kept cycling away. The usual locations these children cycled at were not just at the shoulders of roads but also right in the middle.
He also listed a few hotspots around the area where you would catch them cycling around with no concern on their safety even though 95 per cent of their bicycles were middle-sized and had small tyres. "With every warning, they continued to not heed our words. So when these incidents happen, who's to blame? Of course 50 per cent of us policemen are placed at fault for not taking the right action but where is the role of the parent or guardian that should have been more alert?" questioned the policeman. He ended the post with saying that although he understood that young children would want freedom and have fun, parents should be monitoring their behaviour to not have this kind of incident repeated as most of these children are as young as 10."
Did not pay much attention to the news when it 1st broke except to feel very sorry for the deceased. Not sure if I would have blamed the driver or the guardians/parents of the young kids had I read a bit more about the tragic accident initially.
Am glad to come across this piece of news anyway as it truly helps us to navigate HOW TO PROVIDE appropriate comments on 'the 1st instance' or '1st impression' properly!
1. we usually use OUR assumptions, based on our past experiences and HOW we would have acted, to JUDGE the what actions HAD caused the tragic consequences of 8 young boys age from 13 to 17 years old killed by a car!
Not surprising to read many contributors blamed the woman driver without asking for the FACTs like: how fast was she driving? was she intoxicated? any faults with the car re: brake, lamps, etc., etc.?
2. as for those who blamed the guardians/parents for not properly supervising the kids, except maybe for boys that are pass 16 years old are probably beyond parents' control, and let they out at such late night, there may be needs to find out about: who are these kids? where are they from? why are they doing these dangerous acts in such a place and time? who are their parents? how have they been supervised before this tragedy? did the parents try and fail to get them off the roads? etc.
3. as for those who blamed the authorities for not taking actions as such kids had been doing this for a while. An accident waiting to happen! Why aren't the police doing anything? Again, a legitimate reaction. Yet, there is a need to check IF indeed the authorities had not done anything to get the kids off the streets. Which in this case, the anonymous policeman's post and videos, assuming they are authentic, had done their bits and could not really be faulted.
All these 3 responses tell me one thing: CHECK your assumptions with facts before stating your opinions STRONGLY. If you must let it out of your chest asap, then precede with 'qualifications' e.g. assuming that the police did not take any actions despite the kids' repeatedly putting themselves in danger doing these 'tricks', etc...
Or simply, just hold your tongues and your fingers typing!!
RIP to the dead kids. Condolences to the family and friends. And may justice be served for the woman driver if she is or she is not negligent. A sad tragedy!
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