COMMENT | The real lesson of potholes

COMMENT | Unless you are “lucky” enough to have a minister falling into a pothole while cycling, it’s unlikely you will see quick government action to fix that problem in your neighbourhood. So what’s the solution?

Can we lure more VIPs to cycle in our area and hope that they hit “bingo”? Or do we write endless surat rayuan (appeal letters) to the little lords who are supposed to be civil “servants”?

Khairy Jamaluddin’s fall and injury after hitting a pothole in Banting, Selangor, on Dec 26 revealed our modern feudal culture. The district Public Works Department (PWD) rushed to repair the pothole and apologised to the minister, in an abject display of “kowtowing to the elites”.

Yet, there was no such luck for more humble people. A week later, a 75-year-old man died after he fell off his motorbike which had hit a pothole near Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur. The day after, a Grab food rider died after his motorbike hit a pothole near Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya. Did we hear any apology from the PWD?

Khairy’s accident should have been a clear reminder of how dangerous potholes are, after all, the PWD itself had pledged “zero potholes” way back in 2016 after deadly accidents then. Did the little lords have to wait for the ‘Big Lords’ to cycle there before doing something?

Since everything in Malaysia is racial, we should also ask - are most motorcyclists Malay? Hmm, isn’t that the same group that this Perikatan Nasional government claims to “defend” and “protect” from the “evil” DAP? But was it the DAP that caused those potholes or failed to repair them?

Help ourselves

So what do we do? Potholes in Middlesbrough, England were quickly fixed after an artist spray-painted penis graffiti around them as a protest. This “miracle” was cheekily described in a BBC report as “the power of the willy.”

If that is too naughty, how about using that feudal mentality to get things done? What if someone spray-painted graffiti making