AUG 14 reminded us of a decades-old problem that remains unresolved: motorcycle hooligans, also known as Mat Rempit. On that Wednesday, two 13-year-old boys were killed in Sungai Buloh near here in a stunt gone wrong. There have been many such tragic deaths, and there will be many more as we continue with our atomistic approach to the problem.
For long, we have thought of the Mat Rempit problem as one to be enforced away by the police. We could not be more wrong. Granted, the police do occasionally reach them before death does, as they did on 7 April in Jelapang, Perak, when 178 riders, 30 of whom were schoolchildren, were detained for dangerous riding in the early hours. Instead of studying, the 30 schoolboys and girls were assiduous about stunts.
Motorcycle hooliganism is a symptom of a disease that goes deep. Locate the disease to find the cause, we say. Where do you find the disease? Well, look at it as a machine-man disease that ails our society. It has to be either or both.
Start with the machine. By naming it motorcycle hooliganism or thuggery, we trap ourselves into thinking that the two wheels are at the centre of the menace. True, without the motorcycles, the two boys wouldn't be on the highway doing the stunts. Nor would the others—riders and pillion riders, often girls—who had died in similar failed stunts before.
But would removing the motorcycles from the errant boys and girls end the problem? Not entirely. Yes, turning the machines into scraps, as one Rempit-watcher has suggested, would reduce the menace. But reduction isn't eradication. They will seek other ways to satiate the thrills they are seeking. More of this later.
While still on the two wheels, the authorities need to go after motorcycle modifiers. Dealt punishingly, the mechanics won't turn out another souped-up machine because the pain of punitive punishments will be greater than the profit gained.
Now for the man. Clearly, the riders are a reflection of problems that started at home or at school. More likely, the origins are in the former. Statistics tell us many of the illegal racers come from broken homes. Neglected, they seek solace elsewhere. Drinks, drugs, and other dangerous pursuits replace the caring embrace of parents.
Parents must be held accountable for the errant behaviours of their children. Education, begun at home and reinforced in school, makes a good human being. Why did the parents of the 30 schoolchildren allow them to be out of their homes in the early hours? Responsible parents would make sure that their children are in bed before they went to sleep. Plus, they will keep a watch over the company their children keep. Otherwise, it will be a story of being well-groomed by parents, but spoiled by peers.
The community, too, must play a role in ensuring that the neighbourhood is free of errant elements. There is much truth in the saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child. Our community must become the proverbial village again. There will be no room for a Mat Rempit or a Minah Rempit in such a village.