TEEN CYCLIST REPENTS
Parents forbid me from joining gang after fatal crash that killed 8, says 16-year-old
AHMAD FAIRUZ OTHMAN AND HALIM SAID
JOHOR BARU news@nst.com.my modifying and riding our bicycles,” he said.
Bihamdi said mosquito bike gangs often tested their skills at a hilly stretch in Johor Baru Inner Ring Road, near the Mahmoodiah Muslim Cemetery.
“Since the accident in February, many of them have stopped doing it. But there are others who still continue their rides, albeit in smaller groups.
“I was supposed to join my friends on that fateful night on Feb 18. We were supposed to gather at a friend’s house, but I arrived late and by that time, the rest of the group had left for the city centre.
“Thankfully, I did not go. The next day, I heard that eight cyclists died.
“I was shocked,” said Bihamdi, who was a friend of Mohammad Azrie Danish Zulkefli, 14, one of the eight victims .
He said his parents forbade him from joining the mosquito bike group since the tragedy.
Mohd Nor Hakmairwan Hussen, 17, said the number of mosquito bike riders in his neighbourhood in Taman Sinaran Kempas had dwindled since the tragedy.
“In the past, there would be about 20 mosquito bike riders in a group, but now that number has decreased to about 5 or 6 cyclists.
“Many have stopped doing it, but I don’t know how long they will stop or whether they will continue in future.
“The last time I joined the mosquito bike rides was during New Year’s Eve. But since the tragedy that killed eight teenagers, my parents stopped me from joining the group again,” he said.
The Form Five student at SMK Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat said many teenagers who were in mosquito bike gangs enjoyed tinkering with their bicycles.
“We would only modify our bicycles when we could buy the spare parts.
“We save up our monthly allowances to get tyres and bearings to make the machines move faster. Besides, there is nothing much to do in terms of recreation one point but BH took the initiative to revive the programme in 2009, with plans to make it a monthly event so that the younger generation can appreciate in my neighbourhood.
“The football field has more patches of sand than grass, and there is no park for sports,” he said.
Hakmairwan said not all teenage bicycle gangs were bad because he was part of a group that would ride into the city accompanied by an adult chaperon.
“We wear the same T-shirts and ride in a single file, accompanied by a leader.
“We did that during last year’s Merdeka celebration,” he said. poetry.
It was also used to voice protest against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, with the theme Suara Kemanusiaan.