But hey! This is Bolehland... apparently if you are number 6 and above in the car, you're exempted! No need to buckle up! Some other divine intervention will protect you should you get into an accident! This is so Bolehland style! We come out with a law.... then we bend it because we 'kesian'. I'm aware of the problems for families with more than 5 members because of this law, but if we are to take that into consideration might as well not come out with such law in the first place. That way, we won't look like we live in Bodohland!
We belittle, demean the laws legislated. We tell our citizenry that laws are not sacred... they can be bent. We come across as whimsical, one minute enforcing, another minute giving excuses why we cannot enforce the law to the letter. White is no longer white, neither is black, black. A yes is no longer a yes, and a no also no longer a no. So is it a surprise that we have become a nation in distress.... more of everything yet less of what is important!
But in a way...all of us also contribute to this Bolehland attitude. I have under aged students riding bikes to school... and when this issue was brought up, the usual answer is it's better to let them ride to school cos if not, they won't come to school. So, here we have, parents and teachers alike, condoning the breaking of the law because for them, bending the law here is doing a good.... so, we are all partly responsible for the rot.
How many of us close an eye when our children ride the bike without license?? How many of us beat the traffic lights and tell our kids, it's okay ... or drive at breakneck speed and then tell our kids that the speed limits are silly? The rot starts from and with us. We may profess to believe in God; we may seem more religious....but we bend the rules and laws cos we find them too cumbersome...or maybe some of may just feel that laws are only meant for certain people. We too are guilty of the Bolehland syndrome.... Credibility??? What credibility??? A sin is after all a sin, no??? Unless of course you can divide sins into quarters and halves or eighths??? A syndrome of the rich, I suppose, this type of thinking.
So do I think buckling up is good??? Definitely. Do I think we need to follow the laws?? Yup also. Do I think under aged kids should not be allowed to drive?? Definitely!!! Of course, I also am reminding myself of my own shortcomings also here....for the times I too bend!!!
4 comments:
this is the classic problem of an 'advanced' developing country... not fully developed yet and at the same time, not too backwards.
so we come up with laws that are good but the nation is not really ready to follow. some families have many members but only 1 car - so how? 2 trips?
just last night, dalady and i saw a couple on a motor-bike. the wife was piggy-backing an infant and the father had 2 toddlers in the motor-bike's front basket. really dangerous... but what to do? no car!
what we should do is to have our leaders buck-up and lead us all out into the next level of prosperity. only then can we have the luxury of worrying about buckling up in the rear.
agreed.... no point coming up with laws ... then find that instead of breaking one law it becomes two. Without the buckling up law, it is already an offense to ferry more than 3 passengers behind as when we register a vehicle, the number of occupants are stated... so it becomes worse with the intro of a new law... not buckling and overloading. How's that??
Our usual long trip balik kampung will be the kids sprawling at the back seat sleeping. no. 1 occupies 2/3 of the seat sleeping. no. 2 in his car seat sleeping. no. 3 and mummy (we strapped both of us together, ok) occupied the front seat. So how now? How to sit and sleep? kesian see the kids neck crooked ma.
HQ, no break law for overloading still... hmmm the buckling up one, not sure leh.. LOL! Buckling up together... still buckle up, right??
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