Netizens revisit ‘basikal lajak’ poster after court decision

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PETALING JAYA: Netizens have started revisiting a 2020 poster on the risks of “basikal lajak” (modified bicycles) in the wake of the Johor Bahru High Court’s decision in the case involving Sam Ke Ting.

The poster was put up by police on their Facebook page two years ago, warning that these bicycles could endanger cyclists and cause accidents on the road.

Police also urged parents to keep an eye on their children.

The poster, originally designed by the road safety department, stated that parents could be fined up to RM20,000 or jailed for five years if found guilty of neglecting the safety of their children.

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What is ‘reckless driving’, asks Muda after ‘basikal lajak’ case

PETALING JAYA: Muda has asked the court to clarify what amounts to “reckless driving” under the Road Transport Act 1987, following the conviction of a woman in connection with the death of eight teenagers on modified bicycles or “basikal lajak” four years ago.

“Millions of motorists have the right to know clearly what constitutes reckless driving under Section 41 of the Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333),” Muda vice-president Lim Wei Jiet said in a statement today.

He said Muda hoped the Court of Appeal would hear the matter and decide whether the facts of the case fall within the definition of the offence of “reckless driving” to warrant a six-year jail sentence being imposed.

Lim said many drivers in Malaysia were afraid they would find themselves in a similar situation, especially those who work at night, such as those in the health and security sectors.

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Parents of teens in ‘basikal lajak’ case should face justice, says lawyer

PETALING JAYA: Parents and guardians must be more responsible when it comes to the welfare of their children, including monitoring their activities, especially late at night.

Lawyer Nor Zabetha Muhammad Nor said this was paramount when it comes to the safety of these minors, adding that any such neglect should be considered an offence under the Child Act 2001.

“As long as they are under 18, then it is the responsibility of the parents or guardian, adoptive families or grandparents,” she told FMT.

She said that those under 18 should not be given the freedom to participate in activities with their peers on the road, especially late at night.

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Public yearning for transparency in Johor bicycle case

OMG!: What are the facts of the case? What forensic investigations were done by the police? The photo shows an overturned car. Was that Sam Ke Ting’s? If so, she was probably startled and took evasive action, perhaps hitting the curb and somersaulted.

That means Sam’s life was also badly endangered. She might have been permanently disabled or killed. And now she’s jailed for six years? A decision that comes five years after the accident? Good grief! Justice delayed is justice denied.

How is it there being absolutely zero references, in published remarks, about the boys’ contributory negligence? Does all the fault lie on Sam? 100 percent?

How can this be a blindingly clear-cut case when the magistrate (Siti Hajar Ali) differed in her opinion? Surprisingly, hers was diametrically opposite to the esteemed High Court judge’s (Abu Bakar Katar).

Any published reference to the estimated speed of Sam’s car, as could be determined by tyre braking marks? Going by the remarks made, this is like a textbook, crystal-clear case. No nuances at all.

And yet, a staggeringly long time - five years - to dish out a complete difference of opinion between the lower and higher courts. It gives one pause.

With greatest respect to our excellent judiciary, one nevertheless has to ask, what is going on? It is not good that our minds are troubled thus, though other minds apparently are relieved, perhaps even thankful Sam is going to jail.

That won’t bring back the young lives lost. And in addition to the loss of lives, we have a young working woman’s life exposed to risk of terrible injury, even death. Post-accident, she suffered many years in limbo, not knowing her fate. Now, she is being jailed for years, after undergoing all that trauma.

There is a public desire for transparency. There is a desire to be certain this is not a case of retribution. Only public dissemination of facts can achieve this.

VP Biden: The loss of eight young lives (from 14 to 16 years old) is unbearable to the families. At the same time, how can a young person (aged 27) be sentenced to imprisonment for something that is essentially an accident?

As the judge said, “darkness and limited visibility” was present. Shouldn’t the local council be taken to task for not providing a safe driving environment?

The sentence is not justified. All Malaysians need to rise above the racial polemics at play here and raise the actual issue – fair play in our justice system.

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Appeal ‘basikal lajak’ case decision immediately, says Ramkarpal

PETALING JAYA: Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh has urged Sam Ke Ting to appeal the six-year jail sentence and RM6,000 fine imposed by the Johor Bahru High Court for reckless driving in connection with the death of eight teenagers on modified bicycles.

In a statement today, Ramkarpal, a lawyer, said Sam should file an application for leave to appeal against the decision to the Court of Appeal as she had been acquitted twice before by the magistrates’ court.

“Every effort should be made to appeal the High Court’s decision to the Court of Appeal immediately, particularly in light of the fact that Sam had previously been found not guilty of the offence she was charged with.

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Sam’s defence is bare denial, afterthought, says High Court

PETALING JAYA: The High Court convicted Sam Ke Ting for reckless driving that resulted in the deaths of eight teenagers on modified bicycles, or “basikal lajak”, because she failed to put up her defence at the prosecution stage of her trial.

Judge Abu Bakar Katar said the 27-year-old clerk’s unsworn statement from the dock after the court told her to enter her defence was a bare denial and an afterthought.

“The respondent (Sam) stated that she did not see a group of cyclists and there was another vehicle that hit the victim,” he said in his broad judgment.

“This version was not raised at the prosecution stage.”

Abu Bakar said the magistrate was in error for considering that Sam’s defence had created a doubt in the prosecution’s case.

He said it was the prosecution that had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

He said Sam drove her vehicle in a reckless manner, bearing in mind that the road was winding and slightly steep. (Could anyone drive his/her car at high speed when the road was winding and slightly steep? The judge's reasoning is not logical.)

“The magistrate was wrong to accept her defence that she did not know that there were cyclists at the place during the wee hours and it gave her the latitude to drive recklessly,” he said. (Another illogical reasoning by the judge. How could the accident occur if she knew before hand there was a group of cyclists in front?}

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Reckless politicians turn an accident into a racial issue

Vijay47: I fully agree this incident is taking us down that slippery road we are all accustomed to - racism.

Let me again state that almost everyone involved - the motorist, the teenagers, and their parents - had a share in the blame though not in equal proportions.

Many of the dead were as young as 13 or 14 years old. Where was the parents’ concern over their welfare, allowing them to be out on the roads at 3.20am, participating in dangerous antics where death was waiting to happen?

What makes me sick is their response after the guilty verdict - that they were now relieved. How easily grief can be substituted with the lust for blood.

And how familiar is this accident? We witnessed exactly the same sentiments in the case of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim. The case was used by political opportunists.

What action was taken against those who first started the fracas at the Hindu temple that later led to Adib’s death? Similarly, would the police be now charging the teenagers’ parents for want of parental care and supervision?

And unbelievably, the police are warning against those circulating old video clips of basikal lajak riders.

MS: The 30 teenagers racing their modified bicycles across the entire span of the road at 3.20 in the morning were doing exactly what their parents allowed, and in nearly all cases, enabled them to do.

That they posed a threat to motorists by ensuring that the fully blocked road will guarantee a collision and endanger their own lives has been deemed irrelevant.

The hapless woman had a right to be on the road at that time. None of the 30 did. Not on those ultra-low bikes and not at that time and definitely not in the fashion they raced.

If the words "dangerous and reckless" are to be used, they should have been applied to describe the conduct of the gang let loose by their parents whose irresponsibility matches those of their children.

Could then 22-year-old Sam Ke Ting have avoided colliding with these street urchins, for that is exactly what they are. No.

Could those who caused the accident by the poor choice they made, doing what no normal teenagers would be allowed to do by responsible parents, have avoided doing so? Yes.

But in tribal Malaysia, none of this is worthy of consideration, especially by politicians whose personal conduct, morals and integrity are always suspect.

From the get-go in February 2017, the vultures we know and detest swooped down, picking at the pieces on the road, to satisfy their lust for political dividends.

That set the tone for the rest of the tribe to do what comes naturally - ignore the facts, ignore the circumstances, ignore the cruelty to which the young woman is now subjected and see this as nothing less than a racial incident - exactly like the case of the fireman who would not have gone out if not for the hundreds of thugs who invaded the Hindu temple at 1 in the morning.

Malaysia's ignominious history: a combination of tribalism and feudalism simply ensures that every incident like this will be made racial and handled as such.

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LETTER | Do you see what I see in Sam Ke Ting's case?

LETTER | As I write this piece, the net citizens are re-visiting the incident that led to the jailing of 27-year-old clerk Sam Ke Ting (above) for six years without bail!

No one would disagree with me that bail is usually denied for reckless driving, which involved the death of eight teenagers.

However, there is something more cynical about this than what most people see.

Net citizens are generally very angry because while some offenders who have stolen so much money from the nation's coffers are roaming about freely, a young woman has been sentenced to six years in jail.

The other reason is that these kids are a menace to other motorists, riding on their bicycles in a dangerous manner. They have no business being on a highway, and they are not only endangering their own lives but the lives of many other citizens.

The third reason is that, as I see it, some politicians try to racialise this case to win votes, but the anger of net citizens has hit the roof that not only the Chinese but many Malays are using this incident to speak up against the way how things are developing in the country.

I noticed that an online petition was, in fact, initiated by a Malay. Even Sam's lawyer was a Malay, which goes to show that, with the exception of politicians who continue to play on the racial card, we are still united as Malaysians.

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‘Basikal lajak’ case: why did high court overturn magistrate’s decision?

KUALA LUMPUR – The conflicting conclusions by the Johor Baru magistrates’ court and high court in the “basikal lajak” trial of 27-year-old clerk Sam Ke Ting have fuelled fierce public discourse over her “reckless driving” and the eight teenage victims.

In the high court’s grounds of judgment sighted by The Vibes, judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar found that the trial court erred in its judgment when it accepted Sam’s explanation that she was not aware of “basikal lajak” activities in Jalan Lingkaran Dalam, Johor Baru.

Based on the grounds, amongst the “errors” in the magistrate’s findings was the possibility of another vehicle being involved in the fatal collision in 2017.

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Sam disappointed some blamed judiciary over conviction, says lawyer

PUTRAJAYA: Sam Ke Ting’s lawyer says the clerk was disappointed with how certain quarters blamed the judiciary over the High Court’s decision to sentence her to six years’ jail and a RM6,000 fine over the “basikal lajak” (modified bicycle) case.

Faizal Mokhtar maintained that Sam’s case should not be viewed from a racial perspective.

“It is an unfortunate incident that could have happened to anyone,” he told reporters after proceedings at the Court of Appeal today.

Sam’s conviction had drawn a massive reaction from the public, with an online petition calling for her release reaching over 860,000 signatories as of today.

Earlier today, the Court of Appeal allowed her to be freed on bail of RM10,000 in one surety and granted her bid for leave to appeal against her conviction and sentence.

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