Speed Doesn't Kill

Say, there is a country where the national speed limit is 120kph. One day, the minister in charge of regulating the speed limit saw a pothole on the road and he thought it was too dangerous. Certainly, the potholes can be undone but making sure the road is absolutely smooth is unrealistic. So he lowered the speed limit to 100kph.

The next day, he saw a mini hatchback on the road doing 100kph and it was so unstable and almost caused an accident. Again, the speed limit is lowered to 80kph.

Then, he saw a motorcyclist on the road doing 80kph and he thought it's not safe to be doing that fast on such a small motorcycle, so he set the speed limit to 60kph.

Then he thought overtaking was too dangerous of a maneuver, so all the roads in the country were changed into a single lane.

So the people got angry and burned his house down.

Anyway, the reason he lowered the speed limit is perfectly acceptable. Driving at such speed was dangerous. But his solutions could have been better. He could have made driving schools produce better drivers so that they are able to drive safely at high speed. If anyone wanted to remove danger absolutely from driving, then that person should walk if he wants to go somewhere. No matter how good the road condition is, how safe the car is, how careful the drivers are, there will always be danger on the road. So it is not a question of removing danger. It is a matter of making drivers more prepared for such events.

By that logic, people don't need authorities to ban or prohibit anything they see as a possible danger. There's been talk about how it is "haram" to celebrate mother's day. Let's recall what has been banned for the sake of keeping Muslims safe from derailing. Celebrating Valentine's day. The use of the word "Allah" in the Malay version of the Bible. Joining rallies. The best has to be the poco poco though. No one saw that coming.

Whether such issues pose a threat would be another matter. Banning everything just because there is a threat that it would demoralise Muslims is not the right approach. Because then, they might as well ban Avengers because Thor is a demigod, or ban Harry Potter because it promotes magic.

Given the right exposure and proper education, such "threats" are nothing.

Instead of banning everything, why not produce better Muslims? One who would not be swayed from his beliefs and morality from doing the poco poco dance while wearing a Manchester United jersey who also celebrates Valentine's day and Mother's day.

While you're at it, make sure they stick to the left lane if they think I'm driving too fast.