Road safety champion Suret Singh to chair Malaysian road safety institute

By Asia Samachar Team | MALAYSIA |

Road safety enthusiast Suret Singh has been appointed as chairman of the decade old Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).

Suret, who retired from the Malaysian civil service in 2011 as Road Safety Department (RSD) director general, was most recently an advisor at the now decommissioned Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD).

He was instrumental in pushing forward various programmes to beef up road safety in Malaysia. Later, while at SPAD, he was also involved in efforts to raise the safety levels for busses and lorries as well as trains.

However, not all went down well with the public. For example, the rule back seat passengers to buckle up came in force in 2009 when Suret was at RSD. The ruling never took off for various reasons, though the authorities managed to push car makers to fix back seat belts.

In the Sikh circuit, Suret was a former secretary of the Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM), a national body that promotes the well-being of the Sikh youth through camps and other activities.

Suret takes over the MIROS chairmanship from Lee Lam Thye. An official handing over ceremony was scheduled at the institute’s office in Kajang, Selangor, today (4 Feb 2019). Also present was MIMOS director general Dr Siti Zaharah Ishak.

MIROS was established in 2007 as an agency under the Ministry of Transport to serve as a central repository of knowledge and information on road safety.

The findings derived from research and evidence-based intervention programmes provide the basis for the formulation of new strategies, legislations, policies, and enforcement measures, governing road safety at the national level, according to information at its website.

Principally engaged in research, MIROS collaborates closely with local and international government agencies and private bodies to further the cause of road safety.

In 2014, the ASEAN Transport Ministers had appointed MIROS as the ASEAN Road Safety Centre. The aims of this centre are to promote and provide knowledge on road safety issues among ASEAN member states which includes road traffic laws and regulations, data management, standards development, and road safety awareness and education.​

Suret is married to former central banker turned entrepreneur Kuldip Kaur and the pair has two daughters.