Keep race out of road rage issue

For further investigation: Police have remanded a couple involved in the road rage, which has been classified as a murder case.

PETALING JAYA: The family of a bank manager who died in a road rage last Saturday has appealed to the public not to turn the case into a racial issue.

Zafri Amier Mohd Rozhan, the brother-in-law of Syed Muhammad Danial Syed Syakir, asked the public to stop speculating about the incident and leave it to the police to investigate.

“I would like to ask everyone to stop speculations and turning this case into a racial issue. It is a police case and our family has left this to the police to do their job. God willing, justice will prevail for the deceased, ” he tweeted.

Syed Muhammad Danial died in the road rage incident that police have now classified as a murder case.

Syed Muhammad Danial, 29, was married and has a four-month-old baby girl.

Zafri, when contacted by The Star, said he has given his statement to the Kajang police on the incident.

It was understood that Zafri was the first family member to arrive at the accident scene on Saturday evening to aid Syed Muhammad Danial.

Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said drawing the race card, in this case, showed Malaysia has failed to see beyond racial lines despite celebrating 62 years of Merdeka.

“The whole trouble with our country today, when something happens, people like looking at it in a racial light.

“It is high time for us to drop this. There should be no attempt to racialise every issue or it would be disastrous for the country, ” he said.

Lee advised motorists to keep their emotions in check when involved in traffic accidents.

“There is no need for us to lose our cool. Both parties should go to the side of the road and talk about it.

“We can find an amicable solution to settle the accident without having to fight, ” said Lee.

He said the incident should also serve as a lesson to everyone that violence does not pay.

Malaysian Movement for Moderates founder Anas Zubedy said the attempt to turn the incident into a racial issue was symptomatic of a larger disorder faced by the nation.

“Something that was unrelated to the race was automatically and speedily translated into a racial issue by many.

“Every community seems to think and feel that they are under attack or at the receiving end.

“We need some definite action to pull people together, ” he said, urging leaders from the political, religious and community spheres to ponder deeply about the incident.