Mat Cemerlang..., Mat Rempit... different names, one fucking disease

Lydia Gomez's front page run-in with the Mat Rempit menace (Mat Cemerlang, in UMNO speak) is just one of many, many, many such incidents.

Anyone who's driven in town late at night will have some experience with these two wheeled piranhas that hunt in packs and derive strength from their large numbers.

But dealing with Mat Rempits is actually quite different from dealing with normal criminals.

1. Most criminals act alone or in small groups, and they commit their crimes stealthily or as inconspicuously as possible. Mat Rempits, on the other hand, revel in public exposure. This begs the question... why can't the police stop them?

Is it a lack of resources?

Maybe if the traffic cops spent less time setting up roadblocks and pursuing cars going 10kmh above the speed limit on the tolled highways [which according to Samy... are on par with the German autobahn], or for having big spoilers, bodykits and lights which are too white. Maybe if more policemen patrolled the streets instead of patrolling nightspots harrassing pub owners and patrons, hiding behind trees at intersections waiting for careless motorists or blowing up young Mongolian women.

Or is it a lack of will?

Maybe it's because Mat Rempits are 100% Malay, and in a year or two, they will be able to vote [against UMNO]? Therefore UMNO might not want to imprint a bad impression on a vital future constituent powerbase (hence the Mat Cemerlang programme).

2. Whatever it is, the fact remains that Mat Rempits are a real problem, and it is a problem that the innocent public cannot avoid. To avoid falling prey to robbers and rapists... one can avoid walking along down dark alleys etc. To avoid theft, lock your doors and arm the alarm system.

But how do you avoid Mat Rempits? It's not like we have alternative roads that are constantly patrolled by the police. It's not like we have other more secure modes of transportation to replace driving late at night (btw, not all Mat Rempit incidents happen late at night, mind you).

I think the public need to send the police and their politician masters a clear signal that we will not tolerate being terrorised on roads that our tax and toll money paid for. We will not continue to tolerate inept and ineffective measures by policemen who just got a 35% salary increase for being inept and ineffective. We will not tolerate politicians who rather argue over what uniform to wear to meetings, than work on issues that concern the public.

How do you send that signal? Call your MP. Threaten to vote wisely.

In the meantime, there should be compulsory confiscation of the motorbikes and helmets used by Mat Rempits. Take away their bikes and they become just another pedestrian. I like to see those bastards chase after my car on foot.