Has Anthony Loke S Tactless Child Seat Remark Shifted Blame Away From Authorities Real Failures

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MALAYSIA just watched a family lose their baby at the Bukit Kajang toll plaza. But within hours, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook told a media conference that the child had not been in a car seat and insisted he was not victim blaming.
Semantics aside, it sounded like a “I told you so” to grieving parents and family members. A child is gone, parents are shattered and the country wants answers about a runaway lorry, not lectures about compliance.


To rub salt into the wound, Loke chose to lecture the grieving parents who had waited nearly a decade before finally welcoming their twins last year. That is the sort of detail that should make any public official speak with care – or not at all – as a matter of basic human decency.
So, what went wrong? Police said brake failure caused the crash. The driver told investigators he jumped out. Checks showed the lorry was last serviced in April. The vehicle is now slated for inspections by PUSPAKOM and the Chemistry Department.
Let us also not pretend we are unaware of games played around inspections. Earlier this year, Loke acknowledged the practice of swapping worn parts like tyres to pass PUSPAKOM checks and vowed to close the loopholes.
Can child seat ensure miracle?
So why did Loke turn his attention to a grieving family instead of why the ill-fated vehicle’s brakes failed despite being serviced just months prior?

What about the child seats – or rather its absence – which Loke insisted attributed to the unnecessary death? True, child restraints save lives and should be non-negotiable.
But nobody can honestly claim that a seat would have guaranteed survival in a multi-vehicle impact from a speeding runaway lorry.
The public has watched the viral footage and most would have formed their own conclusions. Besides, technical experts had not publicly corroborated on the Minister’s views unless Loke knew something the public did not.
As for affordability and access to child seats, the government needs to re-look at its policy first. Thus far, enforcement on baby restraints has largely been advocacy.

If the ministry believes cost is a barrier, where are the current rebates or bulk-buy programmes?
Leadership is not telling parents what they should have done moments after a tragedy. Leadership is telling the nation where the ministry has lapsed in the past and what it will do now.
Do that and you will look like a minister fixing a system. Keep wagging fingers at parents and you will keep looking like a tactless Minister blaming victims whatever the media conference caveats say. –  Focus Malaysia

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