Last Thursday, three individuals were killed while two others sustained minor injuries in a road accident involving three vehicles on the Johor Bahru-Seremban road.

Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad said the incident, which occurred at around 3.45pm, is believed to have happened when a trailer driven by a man crashed into the rear of a van carrying the victims.

According to him, the trailer driver has been detained to assist in the investigation, and initial urine tests found that the man tested positive for methamphetamine.

So now, the public is waiting with bated breath to see if the lorry driver will be charged with murder.

Gerik bus crash

In another case, a special task force under the Transport Ministry found that the Gerik bus crash, which killed 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris students in June last year, was caused by a combination of brake system failure and the driver’s actions while descending a slope.

READ MORE: 15 lives lost: Probe exposes systemic failures - who will be held accountable?

The report, among others, concluded:

• The bus’s braking system was compromised because of deformation and wear on the left rear brake drum, grease and oil contamination on the linings, and inconsistencies in the brake lining material. The combination of brake issues and excessive speed caused the bus to lose stability, skid, and overturn.

• The vehicle struck a W-beam guardrail, which penetrated the cabin, resulting in multiple injuries and fatalities.

It said the pattern of applications indicated a high likelihood of abuse of the exemption mechanism, including licence leasing or system manipulation by unlicensed operators.

The report identified several interrelated contributing factors, including weaknesses in road design, vehicle specifications, poor operator governance, insufficient industry compliance, and gaps in regulatory oversight.

Now, here is the interesting part. It was not just the reckless driver. The report pointed to government agencies contributing partly to the deaths.

Highways have guardrails to prevent vehicles from plunging into ravines. But at the accident site, they acted not to save the bus, but became a giant spear, piercing through the left side of the vehicle.

How did this happen? The task force found several things wrong with the guardrail, including improper installation and assembly errors.

The spacing between guardrail posts was 3.8m, far over the 2m limit. The guardrail panels were installed against the flow of traffic, and multiple bolts were missing.

This resulted in it snapping upon impact, instead of cushioning the bus, noted the report. The end of the guardrail was not folded back, but became a sharp, piercing point.

Now, here’s the million-ringgit question: What about the contributory negligence?

After the crash, Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said that since 2023, various initiatives have been undertaken to enhance the Gerik-Jeli route, particularly along the FT04 federal road.

He said all upgrading works on FT04 were completed in phases between July and August 2023, with a total cost of RM55.73 million, based on road damage assessments conducted through the pavement condition assessment.

Targeting alcoholic beverages

Going back to the recent case, the debate continued, a do-gooder, a newly minted doctor-turned-celebrity, doubled down. Not content with banning beer at convenience stores, she now wants coffee shops and restaurants to follow suit.

Because nothing says “road safety” like forcing Uncle Bala to empty his stout into the sink.

Never mind that the driver was on drugs. Beer has a brand and a villain we can see. Beer has a label. Beer can be banned. Drugs are unbranded, sold discreetly by unknown hands with a bigger profit margin.

Then came the second wave: a proposal to end all alcohol sales by 9pm because drunk drivers, as we all know, only crash after 9pm. Before that, they are model citizens. The logic is so flawless it hurts.

Then came another: Take the car, sell it, and give money to the widow, but it is not as easy as it sounds.

If the car had been purchased on hire purchase, as most Malaysians do, legally, the bank that offers the loan is the owner. The driver is the hirer. Period.

And oh, the penalties - bizarre, outlandish, and perhaps, loony.

The death penalty, life imprisonment, caning, fines up to RM1 million, and permanent driving bans. One politician even suggested mandatory compensation to the victim's family - which actually makes sense.

So, the chorus grows louder. The widow's grief – genuine and heartbreaking - is now a political prop. Her tears are livestreamed, shared, and weaponised. Every uncle on Facebook demands that the driver be hanged from a bridge.

Never mind that the same uncles would defend their own nephews, high on ketum juice, who knock down elderly people at pedestrian crossings. Or drive a passenger bus while high on drugs.

Hypocrisy galore

Hypocrisy is the national pastime; we just forgot the rules.

Somewhere, in a police lockup, the actual culprit sits quietly. Forgotten. Because the frenzy is not about him anymore. It's about us and our rage, righteousness and desperate need to feel something - anything - other than the quiet horror of 6,000 bodies a year.

So, go ahead, ban the beer, end alcohol sales at 9pm and hang the driver from a lamp post. Just don't expect it to bring back the motorcyclist, nor fix the carnage on our roads.

The killer is behind the wheel - not the beer.

And PKR Youth was reported as insisting “that local governments introduce ‘dram shop liability’, which would hold operators legally accountable if they ‘over-serve’ customers, as a new clause in business licences for premises selling alcohol.”

Where was the outcry for bus drivers or boat drivers who caused deaths while under the influence or municipal malfeasances and corruption, which have led to deaths?

Look, all this is a matter of public record and yes, even the ethnicity of perpetrators and victims. Did we see the same outrage from the state or society when the victims were minorities?

The recent accident in Segamat, Johor, demonstrates the differing standards and attitudes of both political operatives and the hoi polloi.

Forget about the legalese for a moment. Forget about race for a moment. Every day, we witness Malaysians driving recklessly.

Do you think any of them wanted to murder anyone? Do you think when an accident happens, either through negligence or recklessness, that those folks thought today is a good day to murder someone?

Lawyer Eric Paulsen has the right of it when he says, “Swerving onto the opposite lane is ordinarily treated as recklessness or dangerous driving, not as an act so imminently dangerous that death must in all probability follow.

“To hold otherwise would mean that most, if not all, deaths caused by a vehicle crossing into oncoming traffic would now warrant a murder charge. That cannot be the state of the law.”

Why don’t we just throw away all legal provisions when it comes to negligence, or mistakes, or impaired judgment? Or better yet, why not add a constitutional amendment that says those laws do not apply when it comes to a specific demographic?

After all, privileging one community over others and weaponising tragedies are desiderata of supremacist ideologies.

So far, they have mostly killed or injured themselves (burdening the public health system), but if an innocent bystander is “murdered” by them, should the death penalty be imposed?

2. Logging and deadly landslides 

Five people were killed in December 2021 near Bentong, Pahang, after deadly landslides laden with mud and logs.

I hiked in the steep hills near Karak a year later and saw that the forests had been cleared and replaced with farms and even a service road. Whole slopes had been washed away.

It made me wonder who was responsible for this disastrous policy and what their punishment should be. Would PAS say “a life for a life”?

3. Dangerous lorry, bus drivers

We have become immune to news of bus and lorry accidents. A total of 203 bus-related accidents occurred in Malaysia from January 2023 to May this year, resulting in 39 deaths and 68 serious injuries.

The causes, said police, included overworked drivers chasing tight schedules, speeding on wet roads, brake failure, worn-out tyres, and yes, drugs.

News reports also point to drivers being hired despite multiple past traffic violations. Biasa la (normal la). Somehow, these don’t raise the same level of indignation as alcohol.

In September 2024, Loke said many long-distance bus drivers had tested positive for drugs.

In May 2025, nine FRU men near Teluk Intan were killed by a lorry driver with six past criminal cases for drugs, rape, and theft.

The carnage continues. In March, a trailer lorry smashed into three cars in Penang, causing serious injuries. The driver tested positive for syabu or methamphetamine.

A study revealed that fatal road accidents involving heavy vehicles like lorries have claimed 1,457 lives from 2019 to 2024. That’s one life lost every 36 hours. Luckily, deaths declined in 2025.

This is a recurring problem in Malaysia. Is it because we live in a “boleh kautim” culture where some “coffee money” can induce some officials to “close one eye” to broken rules?

In April 2025, a Road Transport Department (RTD) official in Malacca was jailed for bribing his fellow officers to ignore overloaded lorries, which is obviously a safety issue.

In July 2024, another RTD official in Kedah was charged with taking RM42,100 in bribes to overlook rules broken by a lorry company.

It’s also been alleged that Puspakom is “riddled” with corruption, where “runners” routinely secure “roadworthy” certificates with perfunctory inspections.

So, if we’re calling for drunk drivers to be hanged, what about bus and lorry drivers on drugs? What about corrupt officers who enable this bloodbath on the roads? What about transport companies that hire drivers with multiple misdeeds?

Some will blame Loke for this, but I do wonder, did he have the power to bust corrupt traffic cops or RTD officers? That seems to be under the jurisdiction of the police and MACC.

4) Rotten system

Finally, let’s come to government responsibility. In June last year, a tragic accident on the East-West Highway killed 15 UPSI students. Six months later, a Transport Ministry special task force released its findings.

Highways have guardrails to prevent vehicles from plunging into ravines. However, at the accident site, they acted not to save the bus, but as a giant “spear” piercing through the left side of the vehicle, causing 11 of the 15 deaths, lamented the report.

How did this happen? The spacing between guardrail posts was 3.8m, far over the 2m limit. The guardrail panels were installed against the flow of traffic, and multiple bolts were missing.

Instead of cushioning the bus, the end of the guardrail snapped and failed to fold upon impact, becoming a sharp, piercing object.

Yet two days after the accident, Works Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi defended the Public Works Department, claiming that the guardrails met “international safety standards”!

To worsen matters, due to dirt and a lack of maintenance, the reflectors on the guardrails were obscured, while the road had no reflective markings. This made it difficult for drivers to see the road edges.

Brake failure was the main cause of the bus losing control and crashing. Yet just two months before, the bus had passed an inspection by Puspakom.

The task force report concluded that only the driver and travel companies were punished, but not government departments or regulatory agencies, despite their failings.

However, few people remember the task force’s findings because it’s a “boring” road safety issue, rather than a fiery racial issue.

And now, we have the Klang accident being racialised. If we want to punish an Indian drunk-druggie driver for murder, the same should apply to bus and lorry drivers who cause fatal accidents when “drunk” on drugs.

Would Ridhuan declare that we should stop all this “sebelum orang Islam hilang sabar”? Most importantly, is there something wrong with the system that enables carnage on our roads to continue? Is it corruption? Negligence? Cronyism?

Will Wan Fayhsal dare to point the finger at the authorities for failing in their duty to enforce road safety rules?

Will he declare that the death penalty is needed to send a “clear message that human life cannot be taken lightly and any action endangering others will face the heaviest consequences”?

Or is outrage limited only to alcohol?

At the same time, it also guarantees equality before the law under Article 8 and citizenship rights irrespective of ethnicity. It is within this judiciously balanced constitutional framework that Malaysia’s identity as a multi-ethnic, inclusive, and just society must be understood and preserved.

A shared homeland, a shared vision

In light of these realities, we must affirm that Malaysia is a shared homeland. It does not belong exclusively to any single group, but to all who are bound by citizenship, loyalty, and a shared commitment to its future.

Unity, therefore, cannot be built on exclusionary narratives or bigoted and divisive rhetoric. It must be grounded in truth, mutual respect, and a genuine appreciation of diversity as a source of strength.

Malaysia urgently needs to rekindle its shared national vision, one that rises above ethnic suspicions and sectarian politics. Malaysia’s vision should be to become a just, inclusive, and progressive nation where every citizen, regardless of ethnicity or religion, feels a genuine sense of national belonging.

Such a vision must inspire all citizens to see themselves first and foremost as Malaysians, bound together by a common destiny. We must learn to work together, not as competing ethnic communities, but as partners in a common national enterprise.

No community can build Malaysia alone. And no community should be made to feel that it does not fully belong to the nation.

What Malaysians must do

To translate this vision into reality, Malaysians must embrace certain fundamental guiding principles. There must first be a commitment to a truthful and inclusive historical understanding, one that acknowledges the contributions of all communities fairly and accurately.

Respect for diversity must be practised consistently in everyday life, transcending differences of ethnicity, religion, and culture.

Citizens must consciously reject divisive narratives that promote prejudice, exclusion, or superiority, and instead uphold constitutional values that define rights and responsibilities within a shared legal framework.

Above all, Malaysians must actively build bridges across communities, fostering trust, empathy, cooperation, and a common national purpose.

The role of government

The government bears a profound responsibility in shaping a united nation. It must ensure that education, particularly the teaching of history, reflects a balanced, accurate, and inclusive national narrative.

History can unite a nation, but only if it is narrated truthfully and inclusively. Scholars such as Azmi Sharom have cautioned against narrow historical interpretations that undermine critical thinking and inclusiveness.

Equally important, the government must uphold justice and equality through the impartial application of laws, while honouring constitutional provisions. Public policies should promote national integration and social cohesion rather than deepen divisions.

National leaders, in particular, must demonstrate integrity, reject divisive politics, and articulate a unifying vision that inspires collective purpose and national confidence.

Truth, courage, and collective will

Ultimately, a united Malaysia will not emerge by accident. It must be consciously and consistently built through courage in confronting uncomfortable truths, discipline in upholding justice, and sincerity in fostering inclusiveness.

The responsibility lies not only with institutions of governance but also with every citizen who calls this nation home.

If Malaysia is to thrive in the years ahead, it must remain steadfast in its commitment to unity in diversity.

A national pledge

Let this be our pledge:

• To honour the truth of our shared past.

• To uphold the principles of justice and equality.

• To reject discord and embrace unity.

• To work together for the common good.

And to build a Malaysia that is not only prosperous and stable, but also just, inclusive, and truly united – for this generation and those to come.

Khairy and folks like him want to delude people into thinking that they offer change, but they are all imprinted with the imprimatur of old, corrupt men who want the system to endure. There is really no genuine reason to believe that either Khairy, Madani or PN wants to reform the system.

It has come to a point where nobody is even pretending anymore. This is all about who holds on to power, and the non-Malays are merely the vote bank of a coalition which knows it is imploding. There is very little that mainstream politics offers in this country, and the outliers are dodgy at the moment. With PSM getting PAS curious and Muda floundering, the system is content.

I have great sympathy for the agenda of cyber troopers who run around attempting to paint a picture that everything is kosher in Madaniville, because really thinking this through is heart-wrenching. This is how BN got away with their malfeasances for decades.

The difference now is that the world and technology have advanced to a point where masses of people are easily manipulated into surrendering their liberties to fascistic agendas whose oligarchs, clerics and elected officials have no problem colluding with each other.

The only thing that Khairy is evidence of is that Madani and BN's chickens are coming home to roost.

But if the history of Hitler and Nazi Germany is to be learnt, it is that despots and demented people need to be put in their place before they get out of hand, and everyone becomes a victim. Who is to know what Trump does next, if Iran does capitulate, or if they don’t?

And what would the West do - indeed, what can they do - if the US moves against Greenland or Canada or if they demand that they want to control the EU? What are they going to do to resist?

The only way is if the rest of the world collectively stood up to the US and its main allies, the way they did against Nazi Germany and Japan - remember the Soviet Union fought with great effect on the side of the allies, as did the Chinese under Mao Tse Tung against Japanese occupation.

If they allow Trump to get too strong, it may be too late to avert a catastrophe - a full-blown war, in other words.

What would happen if the US strongarmed its way into Greenland, for instance? This is not unjustified speculation. Jonas Gahr Store, Norway’s leader, received a text message from Trump in January, according to the New York Times:

“Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States.”

That’s from a person who is so embroiled in embellishing his own credentials and an unhealthy penchant for the Nobel prize during an international crisis, he has lost all sense of perspective, making him unfit for the presidency and a menace to world peace.

The West needs to push back hard against Trump and, if necessary, act in concert with the rest of the world to do so. Trump cannot simply act as he pleases, and the sooner he is stopped, the better.

Regime change starts with global pushback

Considerable opposition to Trump is building up against him at home, especially about allowing Israel to drag the US into the Iran war at the height of the Epstein scandal, which has also tainted Trump. Some even postulate that the war was to divert attention from that.

If the rest of the world is brave enough to confront Trump, it will also send a message to US voters who will decide who controls the House of Representatives in the November polls. If the Republicans lose that round, Trump’s powers will be considerably curtailed.

The majority party post-election decides the legislative direction of the House, which is responsible for initiating revenue bills, acting on impeachment, and voting on federal law. It may not be regime change yet, but it’s definitely the first step - it will limit presidential power substantially.

The rest of the world needs to show what kind of person Trump is and why he is not fit to lead the US. He will take the US into the gutter, not “Make America Great Again”. The sooner the US public realises it, the sooner regime change in the US will happen.

Hindu temples are in your face. While Christian places of worship are subject to strict rules when it comes to Islamic sensitivities - the cross, for instance, apparently has a debilitating effect on some people - Hindu temples are gaudy architectural provocations for people who believe in the supremacy of their faith.

Legacy temples are also a reminder of how the Indian community built this country. Cities may have grown around temples, and without the Chinese, there would be no cities, as former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad reminds us.

However, this has given rise to strategists who delude themselves into thinking that they come from technical backgrounds, but only demonstrate such expertise by demolishing and stepping on sacred symbols.

They are the problem, but the state makes the victims of their harassment the problem. Their crusade reeks of an inferiority complex made worse by a state which thinks it is defending race and religion.

Not only is this malicious, but it also creates an atmosphere where people with not much power feel powerful. This, in turn, becomes a distraction from the failings of an all-powerful state.

Folks like Tamim and controversial preacher Zamri Vinoth prove this every time Madani does not censure them.

Rational Malaysians should keep in mind that the establishment portrays non-Muslims as the ones causing disharmony. This is the narrative that is being reinforced by the powers that be.

This is why it is not only about the destruction of temples but also the obliteration of history. Most importantly, this is about compliance.

Temples are not only symbols of dissent in this climate, but also a reminder of why non-Muslim religions need to be defended.

They do so not necessarily out of malice, but from the belief that they are defending legality, identity, or justice. This is how vigilantism begins, not as defiance, but as misguided justification.

Once individuals begin to take matters into their own hands, believing the law will bend or delay, the consequences become harder to contain. Recent incidents involving religious desecration have already set a public expectation: that action must be swift, enforcement must be firm, and standards must be equal.

If one case is handled decisively while another drifts, the issue is no longer about law.

It becomes about whose sensitivities are protected, and whose are not.

That perception alone is enough to fracture trust.

Rule of law cannot be conditional

Malaysia’s Federal Constitution, under Article 11, guarantees freedom of religion. It requires the state to:

• protect all religious communities

• act fairly and impartially

• prevent acts that inflame tensions

Enforcement cannot bend to the pressure of any kind. Once it does, constitutional protections begin to feel conditional.

At its core, this issue is simple. No person alleged to have broken the law can be allowed to set conditions for compliance or hold enforcement hostage to demands.

The balance of authority must remain with institutions, not individuals negotiating with the law.

That is a line a functioning state cannot blur.

This is where leadership is tested. There will be pressure to manage sentiment, to avoid backlash, to respond tactically, but leadership is not about managing outrage. It is about upholding principles.

Politicians must act in accordance with the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection to all Malaysians.

This moment demands clarity. Not rhetoric. Not delay. Not negotiation.

The rule of law cannot be conditional. Provocation cannot be rewarded, and no individual can be allowed to hold the nation to pressure or make demands. We should draw the line now, clearly and firmly, because if it is not held here, it will be tested again.

Next time, containment may not hold.

In a series of social media posts, he alleged misuse and abuse of power and money. In one, he wrote: “Ask him to explain where the TV rights money and sponsorship money that should have gone to each team that competed for years went? Whose pocket?

“Is he still disappointed that his son does not work for FAM anymore because there were issues with the staff?”

In another post, he slammed a former manager of Harimau Malaya.

Those named have retreated into a cocoon, refusing to comment on the allegations.

Due for an overhaul

Football in Malaysia is not just on the ropes; it’s down for the count. It is a multi-million-ringgit enterprise with large amounts flowing through ticket sales, TV rights, sponsorship, allocations from Fifa, etc.

Rightly, it should be run like a commercial organisation, but this is not the case. It is being run like a family-owned business.

Accountability cannot stop at resignations because they risk becoming a convenient exit - a way for those responsible to slip quietly into the shadows without ever answering for the roles they played.

We need a forensic audit conducted by an independent, third-party body with no ties to FAM, no political affiliations, and no vested interests.

This audit must trace the flow of every single ringgit - from broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals, to government allocations and development funds. It must ask the hard questions: Who approved these deals? Who benefited? And who tried to silence those who raised concerns?

Transparency is not just about opening the books; it is about restoring the faith of millions of Malaysians who love this sport. The fans who pack the stadiums, the children who dream of wearing the Harimau Malaya jersey.

Reforms must follow. Not cosmetic changes, not a reshuffling of the same faces, but a fundamental overhaul of how Malaysian football is governed.

That means stronger oversight, stricter conflict of interest rules, and real consequences for those who abuse their power.

The time for an independent audit is now. Not next month. Not next year. Now.

Because every day we wait, the rot deepens, and the trust of the nation erodes further. Malaysian football has been knocked to the canvas - but whether we get back up depends on whether we dare to clean house, once and for all.

The same kind of intelligence that the police in Kelantan had when they raided a Health Ministry-sponsored event in the state, which they claimed was a gay party? So what game is the IGP playing?

Look, I’m not knocking on the police. Believe it or not, from personal experience and a history serving the state security apparatus, I know for a fact that there are police officers who believe that folk like Zamri et all pose a threat to national security.

These are not progressive types by any measure but rather good old-fashioned law and order types who believe that the security of the realm is far more important than any kind of religious ideology.

The fact is, neither Zamri nor Tamim was lying low. Both were using social media for publicity and to agitate against the Indian community.

Zamri was allegedly attacked, and Tamim had caused a firestorm on social media; hence, it was not as if these two criminal masterminds were evading the state.

Indeed, as former Selangor MIC chairperson Awtar Singh, who was involved in a war of words with another agitator, the aptly misnamed Cikgu Chandra (S Chandrasegaran), observed, police personnel were outside the house of this “teacher” when his property was damaged because of his toxic views.

So, if the state security can do all of this, we are to believe that they did not have eyes on these two?

Forces at work

So, what do we know? We know that Zamri was deeply connected with the religious state. We know that both have been investigated at various times and let off by the state.

We know that both were smug and displayed a level of hubris when it came to state investigations into their words and actions.

We have to understand the forces at work here. We have a popular mufti, Asri, who has a well-known animus towards India and who contextualises all conflicts as religious ones.

We have a known Zakir Naik acolyte, Zamri, who is on a crusade to destroy allegedly illegal temples with a supposed nativist activist, Tamim.

The question is not if these two extremists have fled the country, but rather, will the Madani state persecute these two offenders, or will they kowtow to the religious extremists in this country?

Malaysians are not fools. We see the double standards. We hear the name-dropping. We watch as some are elevated above the law while others are crushed beneath it.

And to those who believe their political connections render them untouchable - remember that in a nation watching more in anger than in awe, public patience is not unlimited.

Justice delayed may be justice denied, but public memory is eternal.

The question now is not whether the system is flawed or failed. The question is whether those who benefit from its failures will ever be held accountable - or whether in Malaysia, the name you drop matters more than the law you break.