A Johor father's mission to stop brake-less bikes after his son survives accident

JOHOR BARU (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Five years after his son survived a crash involving basikal lajak (modified bicycles), Salman Ahmed never misses the opportunity to tell off such cyclists whenever he sees them on the road.

"I will stop my car, get my phone and take their photos in plain view. I would threaten to report them to the police if they do not go home immediately.

"And I would usually tell them that they can sit in the police lockup until their parents come to pick them up," said the 56-year-old former bus driver.

His son Muhamad Arif Salman is one of the survivors of the 2017 tragedy in which a car driven by Sam Ke Ting, now 27, ploughed into a group of teenage riders.

Eight boys, aged between 13 and 16, were killed.

The accident left his youngest son with a cracked skull and vision problems.

The case involving the young ethnic Chinese woman who ploughed into these bicycles on a Johor road at 3.30am on Feb 18, 2017 - killing eight Malay boys - has again raised racial tensions in Malaysia.

Sam was ordered last week to start her jail term by the Johor High Court, although she will appeal her case to a higher court.

Many compared her case of being sent to jail, against that involving ex-Malaysian premier Najib Razak who is out on bail, although he has been convicted by the High Court and then the Appeals Court in a corruption case related to the 1MDB state fund. Najib is appealing his case to the apex Federal Court.

Two online petitions seeking justice for Sam had collectively amassed more than 1 million signatures in the past few days.

Some questioned how come the parents of the boys were not investigated for allowing their young children out well after after midnight.

But in the raging debate over the issue, some wanted the young woman to be punished for killing eight young people.

No brakes, no lights

A basikal lajak is one whose handlebars are lowered to the same level as the seat. The machine typically does not have brakes or lights to add to the thrill for its rider, but this poses a danger to other motorists.

The lowered handlebars would allow the rider to lie down flat on the seat with his arms holding the handlebars when the machine is moving fast, in what is called a "superman" move.

Salman, after his son's accident, gets worked up these days when he sees such cyclists, known as mat lajak.

"It is frustrating to see the kids still out on the streets. I would tell them off as I do not want others to go through what my family went through," he told Sunday Star.

Salman said the painful memories of that fateful day came to mind once again after last week's High Court sentencing of Sam to six years' jail for the accident in Jalan Lingkaran Dalam.

According to Salman, his then 15-year-old son wanted to ride his bicycle to Johor Baru some 18km away to catch the annual Chingay procession on the night of Feb 17.

He said Muhamad Arif used to ride his bicycle with his 16-year-old cousin who was among the eight who died in the accident, and another two friends who live nearby.

That night, he wanted to ride to the city area "to watch the colourful floats from afar".

"He begged us to let him go there. And it so happened that I was bedridden at the time due to gout, so I did not say much. I only told him not to stay out too late past midnight," he added.

And later in the wee hours of the morning, Salman's eldest son received a call from his colleague asking about Muhamad Arif's whereabouts as there had been a tragedy involving basikal lajak riders.

"We rushed to Hospital Sultanah Aminah and I was ready to face the possibility that my son might have died.

"Fortunately, he survived despite severe injuries to his head, face, arms and legs. He had multiple stitches and medical procedures to stitch his scalp right down to his jaw, eyebrows as well as other parts of his body.

"The first thing Muhamad Arif said to me when he gained consciousness was 'maaf papa, saya lawan cakap papa, saya minta maaf' (sorry papa for going against you, and I ask for your forgiveness)," Salman recalled.

It was only after some time later that the family told Muhamad Arif about the death of his cousin and close friends.

The boy, who was then in Form Three (secondary three), eventually dropped out of school.

Salman, who quit his job to care for his son full-time after the crash, said Muhamad Arif had not been the same since the accident.

He has become forgetful and emotionally unstable.

"Until now, we cannot even mention the word 'basikal' around him or he will go into a fit," he said.

Fortunately, he said Muhamad Ariff was improving slowly.

He recently started working at a factory near their home in Plentong.

Salman, who is a father of three, said his family wanted to move on from the ordeal as the past five years had been tormenting due to the negative comments and criticism against them.

To him, there were only victims in this tragedy.

"Both sides were in the wrong. Nobody wants to crash their car into others and nobody wants to get knocked down.

"It has been a long five years. We just want to move forward," he said.