6:08 PM
The news article that I came across on The Straits Times, Saturday, 31 October 2010, was about Mr Lim Koon Heng who had to depend on a wheelchair for the rest of his life due to an act of sheer folly.
In June 1989, he drove his Yamaha TZR 125 motorcycle to meet his girlfriend despite drinking 5 cans of beer during a celebration with his navy mates at Clifford Pier. Despite his colleague’s advice, he insisted on riding. It was then when he had an accident as he lost control and hit a divider. He was thrown off and, when he landed on his own bag which contained a spare helmet, he broke his spine. He had lost sensation and movement in his body and limbs, with screws drilled into the sides of his head to help straighten the spine and of course he lost his girlfriend as well.
After reading this article, I do pity him. Because of his one moment of poor judgement, he will bring with him the years of regret. He will have to rely on his family from them on which will definitely change his life. Police often push the safety message relentlessly but it doesn’t seem to be working on the youngsters who are always willing to take risks. It was due to these youngsters stubbornness that lead them to accidents and cause them disabilities. By the time they start to regret their actions, it’s all too late. Even if a youngster who is reading this article may still continue to speed, thinking that it is cool to ride fast. What they like is the thrill of speed. They may think that they won’t be as unlucky as him. But who knows?
Hence, I do hope that youngsters should know the risk of speeding and not repeat the same things as what Mr Lim did in the past. Government should show more of the casualties on television that speeding will result to.
