A wave of racial backlash erupted following the tragic bus accident that claimed the lives of 15 Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students, with Transport Minister Anthony Loke becoming the unexpected target of criticism. The public discourse, however, has drawn concern from some voices urging for reason and responsibility rather than misplaced blame.
Human rights lawyer Siti Kasim voiced frustration over what she saw as an increase in racially charged responses, questioning whether similar sentiments would have emerged had the minister in question been Malay. She raised concerns about the growing tendency to racialize issues, particularly tragedies, instead of addressing the actual causes.
The accident, which occurred in the early hours of June 9, involved a chartered bus. Preliminary investigations and dashcam footage revealed that the vehicle had been moving at high speed just before the crash. Some passengers, according to eyewitness reports, had asked the driver to slow down, but their pleas went unheeded.
The bus operator, Kenari Utara Travel & Tour Sdn Bhd, based in Kulim, Kedah, has since faced regulatory action. The Transport Ministry revoked the company’s permit after it was discovered that the bus had been sub-leased to another party in Kelantan for RM500 a month. In addition, the vehicle’s GPS tracking system had not been activated, making it harder for authorities to track its movements or investigate its operational safety.
According to Siti Kasim, the responsibility for such incidents should not be pinned on a federal minister, especially when the issues stem from the negligence of the bus operator and the driver. In her view, such crashes are typically linked to poor vehicle upkeep, reckless driving, and regulatory non-compliance—areas that are enforced through industry mechanisms, not the daily oversight of a minister.
She criticized the tendency to focus outrage on Loke, noting that it diverts attention from the true underlying problems such as weak enforcement of safety standards and irresponsible transport operators. She questioned whether the same criticisms would have been levied if the driver or bus owner had been of a different background or if the minister had shared the same ethnicity as the victims.
Rather than inflaming racial tensions, she urged the public to reflect on the broader failings that allowed such a tragedy to occur, emphasizing that real accountability lies in policy reform and stricter enforcement—not in scapegoating.
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