Editor’s Note: Senator Mohd Hasbie Muda has apologised and is prepared to face the consequences of having recently parked his vehicle illegally on the footpath of a pedestrian walkway.

“As the owner of the vehicle, I regretfully apologise for what happened and take full responsibility,” the Amanah Youth leader penned on his Facebook page after photos of his car went viral on social media.

“I deeply regret the difficulties that have arisen and am ready to be charged with a compound. I promise that the incident would not happen again.”

“DATO punya jalan, ah?” (literally, “Is this your grandfather’s road?”) is an oft-repeated query in Malaysia.

This should come as no surprise with Malaysians seemingly having a very poor sense of road and parking etiquette.

This was clearly illustrated by a post on X (formerly Twitter) by UpdateInfo (@update1111) that purportedly shows a couple of vehicles very inconsiderately parked on pedestrian walkways.

Both vehicles bear government-related credentials - one belonging to a parliamentarian and the other the Home Ministry- leading many netizens to express their discontent at this privileged and entitled behaviour from civil servants.

And they didn’t hide their contempt!

It didn’t take long for someone to identify one of the alleged culprits. One of the cars in the photographs is apparently registered to Senator Mohd Hasbie Muda who is the Amanah Youth chief. For the uninitiated, Amanah is a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition which is spearheading the Madani administration.

However, some sought to deflect the blame onto the chauffeur.

But this was quickly dismissed by a witty netizen who justified that the boss has to take responsibility by schooling his driver on the do’s and don’ts.

This netizen went on to contend that if these civil servants/politicians could not even take care of their own drivers, how could they be expected to be in-charge of the rakyat’s welfare?

While one netizen’s comment quite possibly hit the nail on the head.

More than few took the opportunity to take a swipe at the Madani administration, claiming this trend is reflective of the current political culture.

Another mocked PH’s much trumpeted slogan for change via Reformasi as mere lip service.

While another took aim at PMX by asking Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to clean up his own house first before tackling the issue of corruption.

More than one asked why the need for lavish parking allowances when civil servants and politicians were parking so indiscriminately.

The bottom line is such that it would probably be wishful thinking to hope that the cops take any action.

But the public relations team for the Madani administration must know how damaging such social media content can be. More people consume such posts than mainstream news reports.

One netizen’s meme on the matter perhaps summed up the mood best. - July 25, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/illegal-parking-on-walkway-by-madani-officials-invites-criticism-reflective-of-ruling-elites-culture/