AIDILFITRI is just a few short days away. True to Malaysian culture, this year’s Aidilfitri will be no different than previous years, with the balik kampung phenomenon being an integral part of it.
This mass exodus of city folk to their respective hometowns is a “ritual” during every festive season.
The balik kampung phenomenon will leave cities such as Kuala Lumpur virtually and literally quiet and empty.
Aidilfitri is an opportunity for Muslims to meet family members and relatives. In this day and age, with everyone having their own busy schedules, it is quite difficult to meet family members and relatives. Hence, occasions such as Aidilfitri become the ideal time to do so.
In short, the Muslim month of Syawal is a season for family togetherness, strengthening family ties and forgiveness as well as a time for giving and helping those in need. It is only right, therefore, that Aidilfitri is celebrated with happiness, cheerfulness and joy.
However, judging from the previous years, we could not help but notice the alarming figure of death tolls and accident rates every time the festive season comes around. Instead of celebrating Aidilfitri, we note that family members of accident victims shed tears over tragedies that could have been avoided.
No doubt accidents do happen, but drivers could take extra care to ensure that the journey home is safe and smooth. Vehicles should be checked before embarking on a journey. People should not drive when feeling sleepy, tired or angry.
Sometimes, the need to arrive in a hurry clouds one’s rationality and judgment. As a result, people drive dangerously, risking not only their own lives but also their loved ones as well as others travelling on the road.
Patience is indeed a virtue that needs to be observed when driving. On the part of Muslims, having gone through the madrasah of Ramadan, one would think that patience is concretely instilled within the hearts of all Muslims. Yet, when sitting in the driver’s seat, more often than not, this is not the case.
As a result, we see many accidents taking place on our roads. Malaysia is often labelled as the superlative capital of the world. We have the world’s tallest, biggest, largest and longest this and that. Probably, cynics are tempted to add one more to the superlative list: the highest number of road accidents.
In truth, much has been done to minimise the number of road accidents and consequent deaths. Countless campaigns by various government agencies have been carried out, year in and year out. Both the electronic and print media have also played their role in emphasising the importance of safe driving, particularly during the balik kampung season.
Who could forget the television advertisement several years ago by the Ministry of Transport that vividly visualised a stream of dead bodies on Malaysian highways? What about the other advertisement, also a few years ago, that portrayed a mother crying her heart out after being informed of her son’s death in an accident? This year, a private television station has also initiated a reminder to all on the need to drive safely by putting together a montage of actual accidents which is shown during the station’s prime time news.
All these initiatives send a loud and clear message to everyone. Most people, one would argue, understand the message and comprehend the need to drive safely. Yet, the mystery remains – why the large number of road accidents and fatalities? It is interesting to note that most foreign tourists have often commented that Malaysians are courteous, polite, pleasant and affable people.
Strangely, though, these characteristics seem to evaporate once a Malaysian gets behind the wheel.
Some motorists are so inconsiderate that they drive as if they are the only ones paying road tax, without any regard or respect for other road users. Some drive way past the speed limit, endangering not only themselves but others on the road as well.
There are also those who have the tendency to drive when they are sleepy, tired or drunk. On top of this, there are motorists who, in spite of passing their driving tests, seem to be oblivious to traffic rules.
This list of bad driving habits goes on. It is indeed disheartening to note that while Malaysia is en route to becoming a developed nation with the best and most modern infrastructure (including highways and roads), Malaysians seem to be regressing with regard to safe motoring. This paradoxical situation is baffling as campaign after campaign on road safety seems to be ineffective.
Malaysia can definitely boast of its state-ofthe-art Formula 1 circuit, but are we proud to have one of the highest road accident figures in the region? Many would probably agree that the main reason is our own attitude.
Attitude plays an important role in determining how we drive. As such, the values that we hold would be the major driving factor behind our attitude on the road.
In fact, a study has shown that the human factor is responsible for 85 per cent of the road accidents in Malaysia. This study attributes attitudes such as carelessness, recklessness and total disregard of traffic rules as the main factors behind accidents.
Islam enjoins its believers to hold dearly to good and positive values such as patience, being considerate, respect for others and vigilance. As stated earlier, Ramadan is regarded as a madrasah to inculcate good and positive values within a Muslim’s character.
It is undoubtedly ironic that despite the lessons learnt in Ramadan, especially with regard to virtues such as patience, caring and respect, there are still many who drive dangerously, resulting in many traffic accidents during the balik kampung season.
The damage done as a result of road accidents is insurmountable. The grief caused to family members who lost their loved ones in accidents are unimaginable.
In the meantime, the country loses out as a result of road accidents. Financially, the losses resulting from infrastructural damage from accidents are in the billions annually.
More importantly, the loss of the country’s greatest asset, namely the youths who are involved in accidents. It has been reported that 90 per cent of those involved in traffic accidents are under the age of 40. These are the people who could have contributed tremendously to the nation’s development.
Road accidents can indeed be avoided and minimised. If every motorist is alert, con-siderate, patient and adheres to the rules, then our roads and highways would not be transformed into the proverbial rivers of death.
Even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is very concerned with the high number of accidents.
The effort undertaken by the Transport Ministry upon the Prime Minister’s directive to bar heavy vehicles on the highways and roads on certain days during the balik kampung season is laudable.
Nonetheless, the bottom line is still the road users’ attitude. Unless this is straight-ened out, chances are we will see accidents even when no heavy vehicles are around.
It is timely perhaps, with the coming of the first day of Syawal, that motorists resolve to have the right attitude in order to minimise the number of accidents, and hence the number of fatalities.
Otherwise, this year it will still be the same old story.
After all, it is acknowledged that we have one of the best road systems in the world. Shouldn’t the road users, too, be the best in the world?