Dec 10th 2016 in Paris Rue Cler District
Today marks the second day of the Year of the Ox. It started tragically when Singaporeans received news that 5 young men died at Panjong Pagar in the wee hours of the morning, a souped up BMW had crashed into the shophouse and all 5 had died, either from smoke inhalation, injuries sustained in the crash or being burnt to death.
A video has been shared multiple times on social media showing the last moments of the young men, but the long standing pain of their loved ones will only be just starting. The "why's" , "they were so young" and the whole refrain of trying to make any sense of the accident.
I put it as the folly of youth. Young adults do not have a sense of mortality, having grown up entitled and only seeing the hardships of many war torn countries from afar, so they think at this point in time, they are 'indestuctible' or 'immortal' like some kind of god.
They could not be farther wrong.
We all die. Many die before their time, because of the folly of our youth, taking our lives so lightly that death happens to the old and infirm that some youth live their lives with careless abandon. I recall my father putting his foot down, when I was learning driving and insisted to not get a second hand sports car (a Porsche 944) for my Mum. The advice of my late father was so prescient.
My heart goes out to the fiance of the driver, she tried her best to save him. My condolences go to the families and friends affected. Remember this, the folly of youth strikes at the times when we least expect it - such as this morning on the 2nd day of the Lunar New Year.
Do we ban supercars ? No.
Do we ban drinking ? No.
Do we ban excitement ? No.
How to prevent people to make better decisions for their lives ? My answer :
Their parents or their mentors need to step in, many a times and guide the young adults. Excessive consumption though not necesarily a bad thing if one can afford it, is a double edged sword. It opens up a can of worms. Of course the bourguise and the marketing people bandying the 'lifestyle' - you only live once will shoot me down and say, if he / she can afford it and wants to fly first class, or buy a sports car, let him. It is good for the economy.
Many questions I can ask myself :
a) If for example, I earn a lot of money, do I need to buy a Rolex or a Patek Philippe ?
b) A car is a luxury in Singapore, so why do people want to buy sports cars ?
Are the consumable products the problem ? Not necessarily so, but the misuse of any product leading to death of innocent people always leads to this kind of soul searching.
I remember in 2012, we had the Ferrari crash which killed 3 people and caused a furor in Singapore for its 'open door' policy to rich people who not only flaunt their wealth but cause major social upheavals and envy amongst the local population for their blatant disregard of the law and the safety of others - especially hard working Singaporeans (the taxi driver who died was a hard working father) who fall victim to these entitled class bullies.
Perhaps the best comment I can make is that, every driver of a sportscar needs special training and regular (perhaps every 2 years) remedial / updating of their skills to be mindful that they are indeed driving something which is actually needless in our cramped roads.
Impose harsh laws to jail all those who take part in illegal racing on our roads.
The Folly of Youth will always be there.
The irresponsibility of the adults in not guiding them to make better choices in their lives is the biggest offence.
