Friday September 15, 2006
Yehaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!Illegal racers and spectators to face heavier fines and longer jail terms
City Traffic chief Asst Comm Hamzah Taib said spectators caught watching illegal motorcycle races and egging on the participants would also be subjected to prosecution under the amendments. Mat Rempits and their fans can expect higher fines and longer jail terms.
Asked whether the recent movie Remp-it – which portrayed the lives of Mat Rempits – had any effect on illegal racers, ACP Hamzah said there were two sides to the argument surrounding the issue. “On the one hand, some would say that the movie did glamorise illegal racing, but on the other, it also showed the consequences of the lives led by these people,” he added. ACP Hamzah said the police had only arrested about 300 illegal racers in Kuala Lumpur this year but had conducted special operations to deal with the problem. These operations involve traffic personnel, narcotics police, CID and City Hall officers. “We also send in undercover officers to infiltrate their groups and obtain intelligence on their activities,” he added. He said police statistics showed that there were relatively-few cases in which Mat Rempits were involved in crimes like fighting or destruction of property. He lauded recent attempts by Putera Umno to reach out to the illegal racers. “It is a good move as they are trying to ‘civilise’ the racers. These people have a lot of determination and courage and if this can be channelled properly they can become productive members of society.” ACP Hamzah also said illegal racing was a non-compoundable offence. “This means that if somebody is charged under this offence they will have to face the music in court,” he added. Itu kata Polis, ini pula kata Mat Rempit Mat Rempit: We won’t stop
Mat Rempit are adamant that illegal racing is here to stay if there is no effort to legitimise the “sport.”
This is a direct rebuff to friendly overtures from politicians to bring them back to the fold.
The illegal racers say that if the authorities really want to take them off the streets, all they have to do is build decent and affordable race tracks for them to do their “thing.”
“They have been promising these things for a long time, but nothing much has been done so far,” said Fairuz, 24, a mechanic by day and racer by night.
The existing racetracks are inaccessible to the Mat Rempit because “we cannot afford the charges,” he said.
“As for the organised races, the competition is too tough for us,” said a fellow enthusiast named Zaki.
Fairuz said the Sepang track was too far away from the city to be an attractive venue for the Mat Rempit – most of whom were low-income earners.
“Why are there so many golf courses in the city and so few tracks? It looks like nobody bothers about us because we have no money,” he lamented.
Zaki, 25, added that Mat Rempit were not society’s trash as they were often made out to be.
“There are among us graduates from foreign universities as well as professionals, like architects and engineers,” said Zaki who himself is a professional in the IT industry.
He however conceded that the majority were despatch riders and mechanics.
Even then, all Mat Rempit should not be viewed with disdain just because of a few bad apples, he said.
“All this negativity about us stems from the activities of a small number who were reported beating up people and caught for vandalism,” said Zaki.
Fairuz concurred that Mat Rempit were not gangsters, just young men who thrived on the adrenalin rush from racing.
“Like other sports, we can get emotional in a race. Sometimes fights break out. Then again, it is just among ourselves,” he said.
Another racer named Kechik said Putera Umno’s plan to convert Mat Rempit into Mat Cemerlang would not work.
“Mat Rempit will gamely take part in government-organised roadshows and convoys. But after that, it’s back to their cliques and street racing,” said the 23-year-old university student.
Zaki said he was suspicious of the motives behind Mat Cemerlang.
“Looks like someone’s trying to get political mileage out of ‘taming’ us,” he said.
What will they think of next? Puteri Umno asking Bohsia's or minah rempit as our childrens role model? Puteri Umno can call them Minah Cemerlang.....I guess Putera & Puteri Umno have run out of ideas. Sometimes I wonder why they were created in the 1st place?
On a happier note,congratulations are in store to Haizal who has a new addition to hisfamily.Now you can train your son to play winning 11 on the PS2.
1 comment:
Hi acob,
I am always upset with all the "REMPITS", be it males or females.
The roads and highways are not racing circuits. They not only put their lives in danger but also to other road users.
They can do whatever they like with their lives, but dont disturb someone else's life. Last vacation I was in KL, and we practically have to look out for them, lest we accidently hit them when they just cut into our lanes and obviously they have no road manners.
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