20/05/2025

TUESDAY | MAY 20, 2025

11

Safer transport for uniform personnel I GREW up in military camps. It was the only childhood I ever knew – spent among rows of army quarters, parade squares and the ever-present rhythm of discipline and duty. Like many children of armed systems. Yet somehow, we are still ferrying our personnel around in trucks that look like they have rolled straight out of a war museum. Every time I see one of those trucks hurtling down the highway, I don’t wonder if something might go wrong, I just wondered when. On May 13, something did go terribly wrong. A truck carrying Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) officers collided with a gravel-laden trailer near COMMENT By Dr Mohd Zaidi Md Zabri

Bidor, Perak. They had just completed their duties in Teluk Intan and were returning to their base in Ipoh. Nine officers never made it back. They did not fall in the line of duty. They died on a routine journey along a Malaysian road because of a transport system that failed them. A system we should have fixed long ago. Beyond the understandable anger directed at the trailer driver, we need to examine this tragedy with a wider lens. Yes, the driver has been charged. The transport company is under investigation. Puspakom, the vehicle inspection authority, has pledged its cooperation. However, focusing solely on individual fault risks missing a deeper, more uncomfortable truth: this was not a random accident. It was the foreseeable consequence of a system that has tolerated outdated practices for far too long. In the days that followed, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain announced that safety upgrades were being considered – including reinforced vehicles, buses instead of trucks and police escorts. These are welcome steps, but they also beg the question: Why did it take nine deaths for action to even be discussed?

forces personnel, I often rode in the back of a three-tonne army truck. Not just to school but to competitions as well. I can still picture it like it was yesterday. I was representing my school in a district-level choral speaking competition in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Other teams arrived in neat school vans and chartered buses. Then came us. Climbing out of a three-tonne army truck like we had taken a wrong turn from a military drill. People stared. Some looked puzzled. Others looked concerned. We did not win the competition but we definitely won for most dramatic entrance. But for us, it was normal. That was just how army children showed up. There were no seat belts. No air-conditioning. Just wooden benches, the smell of diesel and a canvas top that barely kept out the sun or rain. The ride was bumpy, loud and uncomfortable – but that was our routine. We never questioned it. As I got older, what once felt normal began to feel deeply troubling. Even today, decades later, I still see our soldiers and police officers being ferried in the same kind of open-backed trucks I once rode in as a child. The same

“We need more than condolences and cosmetic fixes. We need a national-level policy on the safe transport of uniformed personnel – one that clearly defines safety standards, mandates the replacement or retrofitting of unsuitable vehicles, institutes regular audits and ensures accountability at the leadership level.

When lives are lost due to preventable neglect, especially among those who risk their own for the safety of others, it reflects a serious failure to uphold a moral duty. – BERNAMAPIC

more than ceremonial burials after a tragedy. They deserve safety while they serve and dignity in how they are transported. I think of those lives. And I think of my own childhood. Climbing out of that same kind of truck in the middle of Kuala Lumpur, unaware of the risks we took as a matter of routine. I didn’t know then how dangerous it was. But now I do and so do we all. Let this not become another tragedy we mourn and forget. Let it be the turning point – the moment we say, clearly and collectively: this ends here. Only then can we say their lives truly mattered. Only then can we stop asking “what if” and start building a system that ensures “never again”. DrMohd Zaidi Md Zabri is the interim director at the Centre of Excellence for Research and Christine Lee Wheelchair User Barrier-free Environment and Accessible Transport Bathmavathi Krishnan Wheelchair User Senator representing PWD at Upper House Parliament (2013-2016; 2016-2019) Pua Ghin Chu Executive Director of Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled Endorsed by: 1) Damai Disabled Person Association Malaysia 2) Beautiful Gate Foundation for The Disabled 3) Malaysian Council for Rehabilitation 4) Selangor Cheshire Home 5) Dual Blessing Berhad 6) Persatuan WeCare Journey 7) Association of Women with Disabilities Malaysia 8) Persatuan Mobiliti Selangor & Kuala Lumpur 9) Asia Pacific Network on Accessible Tourism 10) Malaysian Spinal Injuries Association Innovation for Islamic Economics, ISRA Institute, INCEIF University. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

lives are on the line. From an Islamic perspective, hifz al-nafs or the preservation of life, is among the highest objectives of the maqa id al-shariah , the higher intents of Islamic law. Preserving life is not simply a moral aspiration; it is a duty. It is a sacred amanah – a trust – placed upon those in positions of leadership. When lives are lost due to preventable neglect, especially among those who risk their own for the safety of others, it reflects a serious failure to uphold that amanah . We need more than condolences and cosmetic fixes. We need a national-level policy on the safe transport of uniformed personnel – one that clearly defines safety standards, mandates the replacement or retrofitting of unsuitable vehicles, institutes regular audits and ensures accountability at the leadership level. Because behind every uniform is a person – a father, a mother, a son, a daughter. They deserve outcry from the disabled community that corrective steps were taken to procure accessible, universally designed buses. That hard-earned progress should not be forgotten and history must not be allowed to repeat itself. Wheelchair users must not be relegated to isolated or limited services. Currently, Rapid Mobility offers a separate door-to-door transport – with only two vans serving disabled community for the entire Klang Valley. Even with plans to increase to 15 vans, the scale remains vastly inadequate, with narrow operating hours and long advance booking times. Rapid Mobility must complement, not substitute, a universally accessible public transport network that includes DRT, buses and rail. Inclusive public transport is not a luxury. It is a basic right – and a hallmark of a just, caring and progressive nation. We urge Prasarana and the Transport Ministry to uphold the legal and policy commitments to inclusive mobility. Let Selangor and Klang Valley lead by example in setting a benchmark for inclusive, accessible public transport system – one that other states in Malaysia can emulate. Without decisive and inclusive action, exclusion persists – not from lack of resources but from lack of political will.

In most modern militaries and police forces around the world, open-backed trucks are no longer used to transport personnel. Officers travel in buses, vans or purpose-built carriers fitted with seat belts, reinforced frames and other basic safety features. These are not luxuries. They are the minimum standard when

bare benches. The same lack of protection. It feels as though nothing has changed – as if the safety of those who stand guard so the rest of us can sleep soundly has always been an afterthought. We have upgraded everything else – uniforms, weapons and communications

Call for urgent action to include wheelchair access on Rapid KL vans

accommodate all users, including wheelchair users and the elderly. Exclusion due to poor design contradicts Malaysia’s commitment to equitable and inclusive development. Effective public transport is about seamless connection of every segment in a journey. When one link in the mobility chain is broken, the entire journey fails – leaving individuals stranded and systems inefficient and unreliable. We urge Prasarana and the Transport Ministry to take immediate corrective action by: 0 Retrofitting existing DRT vehicles with accessibility features, such as ramps and secure wheelchair spaces. 0 Ensuring that all future vehicle procurements comply with universal design standards. 0 Actively engaging persons with disabilities, especially wheelchair users, in the planning, auditing and evaluation processes of public transport services. We, the users, are the experts of our own needs and lived realities. Meaningful consultation with the disability community is essential – not only to avoid repeating past mistakes but to ensure solutions genuinely serve the users. We have seen such mistakes before. In 2006, Prasarana procured new buses that excluded wheelchair users. Only after strong public

LETTERS

letters@thesundaily.com

WE refer with deep concern on an article titled “New fleet of 320 vans to boost Rapid KL On Demand service”, published in a newspaper dated May 12. It was reported that Rapid KL’s On-Demand service will be expanded, with the addition of 320 new vans by June and will have designated seats for persons with disabilities. However, this is misleading. A direct check with Rapid KL confirmed that the vans are not accessible to wheelchair users. There are no ramps, no secure wheelchair spaces and no universal access features, effectively leaving out people who need the transport most. It is disheartening that Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) van service – promoted as flexible and modern – has failed at the most basic level: inclusion. The omission reflects a systemic failure and undermines the very goal of the DRT – to improve first-mile/last-mile connectivity and serve underserved populations. Public transport must never treat accessibility as an afterthought. DRT vans should have been designed from the outset to