LETTER | I read with concern yesterday that the amendment bill to the Civil Law Act was tabled in Parliament for its first reading.

The bill proposed, amongst others, to raise the award for bereavement from RM10,000 to RM50,000. This may have brought lots of cheer to a few but is it really beneficial to the rakyat?

What was the basis to raise the figure for bereavement by 400%? Was the figure of RM50,000 inflation-adjusted or just plucked out of thin air?

The value of RM10,000 in 1984 certainly could not have risen to RM50,000 in 2018. Wouldn't the premiums for compulsory third-party insurance increase significantly with the amendments?

I wonder whether all the relevant stakeholders related to the Civil Law Act were properly consulted, and if so, were their recommendations taken into account, or is this bill another populist act?

The new RM50,000 bereavement award may seem like a sweetener to the dependents of the deceased (who are voters) but in reality, the rakyat are going to suffer as third-party premiums would definitely have to increase to accommodate such changes.

As the adage goes, 'what is paid out with one hand is taken back by the other'.

The rakyat should not be further burdened by higher premiums for compulsory third-party insurance.

I say this because it was recently reported that there are 29 million registered vehicles in the country but only 19 million vehicles have insurance cover.

Thus, there are almost 10 million vehicles without the basic compulsory third-party insurance on our roads.

The increase in costs of premiums would certainly add to the 10 million vehicles without compulsory insurance and this is not what a responsible government would do to its people.

Madam Minister, kindly review this bill which may have been rushed as the consequences are far-reaching and would hurt the pockets of the man on the street.

I would urge the government to rethink the provisions of the bill despite the temptation to push it through as a populist measure.

In the long run, it will not be a measure beneficial to the rakyat but a detrimental one which will leave the rakyat worse off as their access to compulsory third-party insurance will be affected.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.