A Life Lost.

Just heard from miss simple that a friend's significant other, N, was killed in a bus crash during her journey to KL on Friday evening. Deepest condolences to him and her family.

The news came as a total shock to me, my mind went totally blank for a moment. Truth to be told, I do not know N in person, never seen nor met before but being able to relate to her in a way makes the whole incident a lot harder to digest. For me to be able to feel this way, I cannot even imagine how hard it must be for him as well as her family to accept such a heart-wrenching fact, that someone so close, so dear to them, is now gone, forever.

I couldn't understand why, why do this have to happen to a person with such brilliant future, at such a young age. There's still so much left in this world for her to see, to feel and to discover. Its devastating.

It was reported that the driver lost control of the bus, skided and slammed it onto a divider; human or mechanical error, that we have yet to know. While he survived the accident with just a broken right leg, a total of three (3) lives were lost, with many others sustaining critical injuries.

Then, news that the driver has thirteen (13) outstanding traffic summons for various offences surfaced. Now please tell me, how is it possible that a person with such records be allowed to roam the streets and highways without any issue at all?

Its quite obvious now that the bus company didn't give a damn on who they're hiring to drive the buses, no requirements, no background checks, no nothing; the cheaper, the better, I guess. Did the company hiring him realize that the very moment passengers stepped into the bus, they have placed faith on its drivers to bring them to their destination safely?

Accidents involving express buses is not something new in Malaysia, it has been ongoing since God knows when. Will the companies ever come to their senses, take charge of its drivers and display more responsibility towards its customers? I myself travel by bus frequently from KL to SG and back and if my safety is well taken care of, I don't see any issue in paying more. If profit is what they're aiming for, that's one source of it right?

Has anything been done to rid these irresponsible parties off the scene? I guess not. The question now is, what will it take for the authorites to finally implement and enforce stricter rules and regulations on the bus companies as well as the drivers? More accidents? More deaths? This being too insignificant to do anything?

Or do we have to take it to the streets once again to be able to get at least some form of attention from the authorities?

I am deeply saddened and at the same time angered over this incident. With the festive seasons just around the corner, let us all hope that we no longer have to hear or come face to face with such incidents anymore.

Let us all spend a minute of silence in prayers for N, may she rest in peace.