PD incident proves fireworks can be fatal

by Nurul Afiqah Binti Mohd Nasir

Gombak, 1 January 2024: Today, according to the MyNewsHub X account, a male worker in Port Dickson (PD) was killed after an unexpected explosion occurred while he was setting up a fireworks display. The fatal incident took place in Lexis Hibiscus Resort at Port Dickson, Sunday evening (31 December 2023).

Fireworks are particularly dangerous since they can cause air pollution, severe noise, burns, and damage to people’s hearing. Fingers, legs, and eyes may be burned while attempting to ignite them or when they explode. In dry areas, even little, hand-held fireworks have the potential to cause serious burns to both humans and properties. People have died as a result of fireworks because of how dangerous they are. Apart from that, playing with fireworks is worthless because they have more disadvantages than advantages, which might lead to significant losses.

In Malaysia, the Malay Mail reported, “The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) stressed that only 45 types of firecrackers and fireworks have been authorised for sale since 2018 in accordance with the stipulated standard operating procedures,” with only the some festive seasons allowed: Hari Raya Aidilfitri/Aidiladha, Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Christmas, Gawai and Kaamatan, whilst online sales of fireworks is totally prohibited (see: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/02/09/bukit-aman-only-45-types-of-firecrackers-authorised-for-sale/117224).

As we know, in Singapore and Hong Kong, fireworks are strictly regulated or banned because of the concerns about safety, the environment, and limited space. Singapore banned fireworks in 1972 after they started a big fire during Chinese New Year celebrations. The ban has been tightly enforced, allowing for only professional shows that are approved by the government to use fireworks on public holidays like for the National Day.

In the same way, Hong Kong has put strict rules on using fireworks because of security concerns and the fact that it is a very crowded city which is dangerous for fireworks. In most cases, the residents are prohibited from using fireworks without a licence. During certain events, like Chinese New Year or National Day parties, only licensed operators can set off fireworks in public. The primary objectives behind the implementation of these measures are to safeguard the environment, mitigate fire hazards in densely populated areas where fireworks could cause substantial harm to individuals and property, ensure public safety, and prevent accidents.

According to Fatimah Mat Johar et al., in November 2021, a few students from University Sains Malaysia (USM) proposed an approach to address the problem, which is an awareness campaign on the prevention of firecracker injuries through digital platform. The campaign was successful because over a month after the video was launched on the internet platform, it received 29,585 views. The video attracted a combined audience of 60,920 social media users, both local and worldwide. Additionally, there were 874 shares of the video from the USM and Wau social media accounts, and the video received 2,924 comments.***