accident revisited

saw the sign "accident lane 1 near paya lebar exit" on my way home on the pie an hour ago. so was expecting some form of delay when we approached the accident site. what we were not expecting was the sight of a body of a dead man lying sprawled on the road still.

granted the coroner or the csi (s'pore's version of it) was probably not on the scene yet, so the policemen who were there probably did not want to do anything to 'contaminate' the scene. but the least they could do was to cover the body, or at least form a protective shield around it. not so much to protect the sensibilities of us passerbys, but to protect the dignity of the victim.

was instantly reminded of the scene that fateful day in may of my cousin sprawled on the road. the accident supposedly happened close to 6 in the morning. we were at the scene at 7plus in the morning. and his body was still lying there, for all and sundry to see (and gawk and ask insensitive qns and gossip like the kepo singaporeans that we are).

why couldnt the police form a barricade around the body? why not form a human shield, so that curious passerbys would have nothing to see and gossip about? and why did it take so bloody long to process the scene, collect the body and bring it to the morgue?

yes the victim is dead. but shouldnt there be urgency in tending to the dead? while the one still alive was rushed to hospital asap, the one already dead was left sprawling on the road for more than 2 hours. shouldnt there be respect for the dead too?

it just occured to me that i've not passed that road ever since the accident. not ever. either it's a coincidence, or a deliberate effort of the drivers (dad, spider, me) to avoid it. the image of his sprawling body is still fresh in my head though. but i also have images of him in his cheerful corny self. and these help to keep me, keep us who were there at the scene, sane. he's in our prayers still, may Allah bless his soul..

i wonder how long the body of that poor man had been lying there on the pie. i hope it's brought to the morgue already.