KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Government vehicles may be exempted from speed limits when rushing between official functions, according to Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
He said that there were “no hard and fast rules” on when such exemptions would apply, and that it was left to the discretion of the officials and the authorities involved.
“Government cars, if we have to rush for official business, we can inform the police,” he told reporters at the Dewan Rakyat lobby today.
“Government car on government business, we settle it internally, but with justification.”
He said that there were “no hard and fast rules” on when such exemptions would apply, and that it was left to the discretion of the officials and the authorities involved.
“Government cars, if we have to rush for official business, we can inform the police,” he told reporters at the Dewan Rakyat lobby today.
“Government car on government business, we settle it internally, but with justification.”
Speed limits are there for safety reasons, and not to bugger motorists as the minister might have believed.
So tell me, what is Nur Jazlan saying? That government vehicles rushing between official functions can f**k safety off?
The only exception shall only be emergency vehicles attending to the urgent safety of lives, like fire vehicles and ambulances.
But emergency vehicles aren't ministers' cars rushing around as if their principal passengers are local kings.
In some countries they have even stopped police high-speed chase as innocent bystanders have been hurt or even killed. There is greater danger to the public from police car high-speed chase than from the escaping suspected criminals.
Now, let me give you an example of a law-abiding country which does not subscribe to Nur Jazlan's 'Siapa Raja' mentality.
On 17 July 2004 in New Zealand, the driver of the prime minister’s car and the two police outriders were fined for speeding, even when then-PM Helen Clark was in that over-speeding car.
Because she had to catch a flight from Christchurch to Wellington to attend an official function, her convoy pressed on the accelerator, wakakaka, and found that being police and PM's driver did NOT exempt from the law.
SMH reported: Clark's civilian driver, whose name is suppressed, along with police officers Simon Vincent and Ian Howard, were convicted of dangerous driving.
The driver and Howard were also found guilty of following too closely.
They were each fined $NZ675 ($A625), but were not disqualified from driving.
Three other police officers travelling in the motorcade, including a diplomatic protection squad officer, got off. [...]
The trial heard the three-vehicle convoy's 206 km journey from the South Island town of Waimate to Christchurch had taken taken 96 minutes at an average speed of 128 kmh. [...]
New Zealand's open road speed limit is 100 kmh.
The driver and Howard were also found guilty of following too closely.
They were each fined $NZ675 ($A625), but were not disqualified from driving.
Three other police officers travelling in the motorcade, including a diplomatic protection squad officer, got off. [...]
The trial heard the three-vehicle convoy's 206 km journey from the South Island town of Waimate to Christchurch had taken taken 96 minutes at an average speed of 128 kmh. [...]
New Zealand's open road speed limit is 100 kmh.
The police (obviously not in the PM's convoy, wakakaka) had calculated the distance between two points and found that the PM’s car could arrive at the destination by the given time only if the PM’s convoy had been over-speeding.
They then charged the PM’s motorcade and her police escort for speeding through towns, yes purely on the basis of the time taken for the journey that would have been impossible unless they were speeding.
I salute the Kiwis for their democracy and the exercise of rule of law. I salute Prime Minister Helen Clark for remembering she's the New Zealanders' elected representative rather than some imagined highborn aristocrat who takes no-shit from bloody peasants.
The New Zealand case was in 2004, and also in the context of New Zealand, a very safe, zero terrorist-incident country.
ReplyDeleteThe UK Prime Minister used to go around London without outriders, with just an unmarked police escort car - which meant they followed traffic rules , and got stuck in traffic jams like everybody else.
However, in the age of terrorism, where virtually all Western head of governments are potential targets, they zip from one place to another "as fast as possible" which means outriders, sirens blaring, and , yes, disregarding speed limits if the way is open.
I happened to be in London when Obama was in town some years ago. The convoy including the huge US Presidential limousine (two identical ones, so you can't be sure which is the one with Obama in it) was going at breakneck speed through the narrow streets of London, all other traffic stopped by police.
Nur Jazlan Mohamed did justify this concept as reported in Malaysiakini, thus :
ReplyDelete“Who's the police? Government. Who are the ministers? Government. If on government business, it's an internal matter to be solved within us."
I am wondering whether this concept applies to state government cars as 'government' in Penang, Selangor, Kelantan is not part of the syndicate to qualify as 'internal matter'. Maybe only for cabinet ministers.
And our concept here of accountability & rule of law cannot be compared with that of Mat Sallehs in New Zealand etc; their mentality are considered by us as 'decadent values'.
rules, procedures, policies - each has an intent that must not be overlooked. Speeding laws relate to public safety, ministers standing aside when under investigations for alleged wrong-doing is about their likely interference with the investigations, etc
Deletewhere is Nur Jazlan's justification for ignoring public safety requirement (outside of fire-fighters and ambulances responding to likely imminent public safety)?
if a minister is late for a function, f**k him rather than let his car f**k public safety
Nur Jazlan's justification is no longer in-line with the principle of rule-of-law; his words suggest that the executive arm is now a law-unto-themselves. Internal matter, eh?
DeleteWhy did he make this kind of ruling?
The mentality of those in power and those being ruled is still partly in the age of the 'exalted leader(s)' who is/are entitled to certain indiscretions and indulgences. And these values collide with the concept of accountability/rule-of-law, witness the squabbles presently raging in the political landscape and the circus/farce/charades that followed. Thus, when Jazlan made his justification he probably was using the same privilege accorded to ambulances/police/fire-trucks with regard to road safety. Napoleons and little-napoleons still have their time-honored practices and noboby is supposed to question them, unlike in NZ, UK etc.
Isn't it surprising that people in such high positions have such mentalities, or could it be that the one who griped about '3rd-world-mentality' was right after all?
Stupid people say stupid things.Nur Jazlan is one of them,the latest to join the Ismail Sabri club of political clowns.
ReplyDelete1. speed limit is had laju in malay. no offense committed if you cruise at or below the gazetted maximum limit. in the syariah law, a person who is found guilty of theft, tangan kena potong (that's the max punishment), kalau denda atau penjara tak boleh ka? (unless these two are viewed to be exceeding the potong tangan).
ReplyDelete2. helmets are mandatory for motorbikers and pillion riders for their own safety, why are those wearing serban & turban exempted? safety belts are not mandatory for the law enforcement personnel. public transport vehicles are not equipped with the tools.
3. kalau mereka nak mampus terjun longkang. langgar pokok atau road divider, sendiri sendiri, that's ok with me, but, if at the expense of other road users' safety, it's ridiculous. satu kenyataan gila-gila. wakil rakyat konon. let's call them warak (acronym for wakil rakyat - bagi mereka syiok sikit) instead of yg berhormat
I find that many Chinese harbour a resentment against what they see as unwarranted privileges by a largely Malay officialdom. Having to give way to VIP motorcades is just one of the most visible ones.
ReplyDeleteThey have their right to their personal opinions....just be careful if you voice such resentments in public.
Like the guy who showed a middle finger at a passing VIP entourage in the airport...it so happened it was the Raja Permaisuri Agong.
He was jailed one month.
That incident had ugly racial overtones....a Penang Chinese, more likely than not a DAP supporter, showing blatant disrespect towards Malay Royalty.
Brings back to memory past DAP repeated, deliberate contempt, such as the refusal to wear songkok when the Malay Rulers opened the state Assembly sessions.
this post is about safety and ministerial sanction of overspeeding, and to a wee extent of elected representatives in Malaysia forgetting who they are
Deleteit has nothing to do with VIP convoys which Malaysians are already familiar with for eons
most Chinese are also familiar with Malay officialdom's love of demo in class/caste distinctions, perhaps inherited from Indian culture like many aspects of Malay culture - but this is not a Chinese problem so your allegation of our resentment is nonsense - your alleged example might have been an odd one but Chinese in general don't resent someone being better off than them - instead they would strive to achieve the same though class/caste distinction is not among their wish list
When Nur Jazlan first came to Parliament , he looked like a new breed of UMNO leader. Bright , articulate, well educated , and not locked into the typical UMNO race-religion-patronage politics.
ReplyDeleteHe was well regarded as the Chair of the Parliament Public Accounts Committee.
Things went totally bad when Najib appointed him to the Cabinet.
It is simply true that anyone who joins the Malaysian Cabinet has to park their brains and ethics in some closet somewhere far away. Its either that or they don't last long.
It is even truer now in Najib's cabinet.
As the PM struggles with the Mega Corruption Scandal that sticks to him like Super Glue, more and more , the PM demands unquestioning loyalty above all else.
The Cabinet ought to be made from the best available qualified and able group of political leaders in the country
Instead All around Najib are Sycophants, Hatchet Men, Yes Men, Ball Carriers and Arse lickers (sorry Monsterball). Very poor specimens in a national Cabinet.
Najib wants and needs it that way, else he will not survive the combined onslaught from left, right , front, back, top and below....
As an aside....I'm starting to see some worrying signs in the people around DAP's Lim Guan Eng as he faces his own corruption allegations.
Though in this case I see most of the hot air is simply UMNO-manufactured.
"I am Locutus of Borg.
DeleteResistance is futile.
Your life, as it has been, is over.
From this time forward, you will service us."
– Locutus of Borg/Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Reply
Nor Jazlan was also involved in the effort to have bloggers register with MCMC, see
ReplyDeletehttp://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/03/16/govt-considering-move-to-register-news-portals-blogs/
This week the "draft for the amendments to the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 had been submitted to the Attorney-General to be scrutinised before being tabled in the next session of Dewan Rakyat"
http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/03/134469/ministry-mulls-laws-registration-news-portals
(This registration idea is not new, back in the 90s Nur Jazlan's father Mohamed Rahmat considered the licensing of owners of homepages - the precursor to the present blogs).
There are no details how they are going to enforce it, especially bloggers like KT who is out of reach. I guess there will be provisions to block your site. Perhaps KT will register to ensure access - nah... just an outrageous speculation ...
A minister must be on time to cut the red ribon at the auspicious time appointed by the Fengshui master, otherwise it will bring severe hardship to the people concerned.
ReplyDeletewakakaka, there's truth in your statement laced with so much sarcasm - it's lovely Malaysian rojak - I judge this the best comment of the new 2016 year
DeleteThe immediate consequence is that if you don't give way to a speeding minister's car, you will suffer the hardship of being RM 300 poorer or worst still, get sent to jail. To avoid this, you should carry extra "Red Packets" in your car to ward off bad karma in such situation. The "gods" love the color red and may give you a 2nd chance when they see red.
ReplyDelete