THE East Coast Expressway became a scene of tragedy once again, with motorcycle debris strewn across the carriageway and bodies lying where they had fallen.
The crash, which shattered the silence at about 1am last Saturday, claimed three lives at the scene.
A fourth victim died in hospital, while 13 others suffered injuries of varying severity.
As news of the tragedy flooded social media feeds and newspaper pages, the debate over negligence and dangerous riding grew louder.
The self-appointed judges of cyberspace were soon pointing fingers, each eager to decide who should bear the blame.
Any act that recklessly endangers other road users must, of course, be dealt with according to the law. The Social Security Organisation’s (PERKESO) has never suggested otherwise.
Yet beneath the clamour of public judgement lay a painful truth that received far less attention.
Four deaths left eight children, aged between one and 13, without their fathers overnight.
The weight of keeping their families together now rests on women forced to endure the hardships of single motherhood by circumstances they neither chose nor deserved.
Beyond a debt of love that can never be repaid, these children must still be raised and provided with the basic necessities of life.
There is milk to buy, rent to settle, kindergarten fees to pay, clothes to replace as they grow and, most importantly, nourishing food to place on the table so they may grow up healthy and strong.
In the years ahead, as those little feet carry them into adolescence and adulthood, the cost of education will continue to rise.
Yet the men who once laboured tirelessly to provide for them are gone forever.
It is in moments such as these that the true purpose of social security comes into focus, and why the level of social security literacy among Malaysians remains a matter of concern.
The role of social security
A safety net built to cushion life’s unexpected shocks is not a reward for people who have never stumbled.
Nor is it merely money paid after death, treatment provided after injury or a pension granted when a person’s capacity to earn has been diminished.
Social security rests instead on a simple principle of solidarity: “The healthy support the sick, those spared by tragedy stand with those who have suffered loss, and those who can still stand on two feet help those who have lost a limb or their ability to work.”
It is society’s pledge that when disaster threatens to bring down the roof over one person’s life, the family sheltering beneath it, particularly the children looking for protection, will not be abandoned to hardship and allowed to fall into poverty.
For the families of three of the men who died, that promise now takes the form of a monthly Survivors’ Pension based on their respective contribution records.
The family of the late Che Mohd Suffian Che Gani is eligible to receive RM2,207.63 a month, followed by the family of the late Muhammad Hafiz Al Hakim Mazlan at RM1,258.33 and the family of the late Mohd Aizat Husni at RM708.33.
Under the prescribed apportionment, the three widows will receive their respective shares of the pension for life, amounting to RM1,325, RM755 and RM425 a month.
Calculated over 30 years, the value of those benefits would reach RM477,000, RM271,800 and RM153,000 respectively.
A further RM1,670 a month has been allocated collectively to the eight children.
If paid over 15 years, it would amount to RM300,600 towards the cost of raising them.
Taken together, PERKESO’s long-term benefits for the families affected by this tragedy exceed RM1.2mil.
More than financial relief
Contributions that may once have seemed like small deductions while life was going well now flow back as a steady stream of protection.
This is proof that social security is not temporary relief, but a continuing responsibility to ensure that families are not left alone to bear the consequences of loss.
For those who survived, Lindung 24 Jam changes the story in another equally important way.
Five of the 13 injured victims were found eligible for benefits under the scheme.
Before June 1, the victims of the crash near the Jabor interchange might simply have become part of the statistics of applications that PERKESO was legally unable to approve.
The will to help may have been there, but the law had tied its hands. That restraint has now been lifted.
All five can be assisted and, as a first step, PERKESO has approved RM10,000 to cover surgery and the cost of implants for two recipients.
The five injured victims are also eligible for income replacement throughout their certified medical leave, for as long as they remain unable to return to work.
For Ahmad Irwan Kairul Azha, who remains critically ill in the intensive care unit, this benefit helps safeguard his family’s livelihood, particularly as his wife, now seven months pregnant, awaits the birth of their second child.
This is where social security draws a clear distinction from the personal protection products available in the market.
Income replacement is not merely another payout – it is a lifeline that prevents a breadwinner’s monthly earnings from disappearing abruptly when a family needs them most.
With a five-year-old child and another baby on the way, the Temporary Disablement Benefit provided through Lindung 24 Jam is only the family’s first line of defence.
Depending on the Medical Board’s assessment of his medical reports, it may be followed by the Permanent Disablement Benefit.
Yet Ahmad Irwan’s protection does not end with income replacement or cash benefits.
Ahead of him lies a long and difficult road to recovery, one that must help him regain his independence, rebuild his life and resume his responsibilities as the head of his family.
At the Sultan Nazrin Shah PERKESO Rehabilitation Centre, rehabilitation estimated to cost more than RM100,000 will be fully borne by PERKESO.
This is social protection in its truest form: not merely allocating compensation or sustaining someone while he lies incapacitated, but sheltering him throughout the difficult journey back to independence and to becoming a pillar for those he loves.
Life will not always unfold under clear skies.
Yet the future of the five young children of Ahmad Irwan and another victim, Mohd Rosli Jalaludin, remains protected, including through PERKESO’s education loan benefit.
Even as their families face one of life’s harshest tests, the children of Lindung 24 Jam contributors will not be left adrift, searching for something to hold on to.
Valuable lesson to learn before too late
Lindung 24 Jam was created to close a long-standing gap because misfortune never asks permission before it arrives.
It recognises neither place nor time and can derail a person’s life at any hour.
Yet human nature being what it is, we seldom look up until we have first struck our heads.
Although the scheme places Malaysia alongside developed countries, such as New Zealand, the United States and Canada, in providing comprehensive protection still unavailable in most other countries, Lindung 24 Jam has become fodder for dispute and ridicule.
Too many people count only what is deducted today without imagining what may be lost tomorrow.
Opting out may feel like the easiest decision. But before making it, look at your children and ask yourself honestly: “If I do not come home tonight, what protection will they have?
“Who will keep food on the table, keep them in school and preserve the family’s dignity after the loss of the person on whom they depended?”
Near the Jabor interchange, four lives ended. In the homes they left behind, however, life must continue.
Nor should a child’s dream of becoming a celebrated hockey goalkeeper be buried alongside his father.
For years, the helping hand of social protection was bound by the limits of working hours and the workplace.
Lindung 24 Jam has loosened those restraints so that assistance can reach people even when tragedy strikes after the working day has ended.
What is heartbreaking is to see the very hand extended to catch us when we fall brushed aside because baseless claims and fearmongering reached the public first.
Do not wait for tragedy itself to teach us the value of protection. By the time the lesson arrives, it may already be too late.
Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed is the group chief executive officer for Social Security Organisation (PERKESO).
