It was a tragic accident, wasn’t it? The bus crash along the North-South Expressway near Bukit Gantang early on Aug 13 morning took the lives of 20 people, including the driver, and left nine others warded with injuries, some serious.
Tragic, yes. Shocking, no. When you understand the greed that goes into running bus companies, the need to squeeze everything from passengers and maximise lining their pockets by delivering them from Point A to Point B in the shortest possible time with the least resources that include overworked drivers and questionable vehicles, this was an accident just waiting to happen. A less than alert bus driver who must have dozed off, a serial traffic offender who habitually broke traffic rules, including speeding on the roads. A speed demon if ever there was one.
He died at the wheel, which saw the bus plunging into a ditch and having its roof sheared off in the process, but that’s scant comfort for him. The real victims were the other 19 who died and those injured. Lives snuffed out in the twinkle of an eye. What a tragedy. Where’s the logic? Where’s the justice?
I read in the newspapers that the two widows of the bus driver were arguing over his body. One wanted to bury him in Pantai Merdeka, the other wanted to bury him in Selama. “A moment of grief coupled with tension” was how The Star described it. In the end, the driver’s parents buried him in Kulim.
This tussle is so typical of conflicts arising within families that are affected by tragedies. In this case, it was only over a simple matter of choosing a burial site but it was serious enough for his family.
Imagine if the conflict is over something more material, like children or money or property or business interests. With so much more at stake, it will be very surprising if the next-of-kin can settle their differences quietly or amicably without anyone intervening. And we haven’t even touched on the distribution process yet.
I wouldn’t envy the would-be Administrator of the intestate. He’d be the man caught in the middle, constantly having to play a role in appeasing the relatives on all sides. It’s not an easy task and he risks being labelled for favouritism by dissatisfied parties. Worse, the problem gets compounded because he may not know what to do or where to begin.
In the end, delay upon delay, the ultimate losers with be the beneficiaries themselves, those who couldn’t see eye-to-eye in the first place. It’s an oft played-out tragedy that’s so familiar. But unfortunately, very few people seems to learn anything from it. After all, it won’t happen to them … or you, right?