In the sixties two court cases appealed to some concerned public. But it did not go much further and therefore only reached the coffee shop discussion group and some intellectual chit chat.
This was a comparison between the fate of two men.
One unemployed father was arrested for stealing a bun right under the nose of the hawker. He was caught about ten feet from the shop and was hit very badly by a few bystanders. The forlorn looking man was sent to the police station and put in police remand until he was produced in the magistrate's court.
And for stealing a bun he pleaded guilty. He pleaded for some reduction of his punishment and because he did not have a lawyer to defend him, he was sentenced to six months' jail - for stealing a bun. He was unemployed. He had no money and he was desperate to give his son a bun. But, he was caught. He was a thief and he was punishable under the Penal Code.
The other case was a bus driver. He had driven recklessly and had killed a girl cyclist who was riding with an open umbrella.
Because the road was very crowded and he did not see very well, he mowed into the side of the road, pull the girl's bicycle to the side of the road. She fell down and died. As he had a good lawyer to help him out, he was not sentenced to a jail term.
His driving licence was endorsed for a year. I am not too sure of his other punishment. But he walked out a free and happy man. He was guilty of careless driving not amounting to manslaughter.
Two men, two different laws, two different fates.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
A Matter of Justice - Two Men Two Different Fates
Memoir by I Am Sarawakiana at 5:14 PM
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5 memories:
Dear Sarawakiana,
I like you story. In fact, I totally agree with you that the court system is not "divine". It is human and full of errors. That is the reason why I never support the death penalty. There can be mistakes in judgment. Afterall, a judge is only human and he may have too many cases and work to do and overlook a lot of things. Also, there are such thing as corruption and fixing of court case. And of course we have the famous Lingam case at the moment of fixing who will be appointed judge. It is not just in Malaysia but also the whole woeld, even in western countries. Anoter thing in a court judgment, there is a human factor. Human factor because that depends on who is the judge. Different judge can have different opinion!!!
thank you. In fact the girl who was killed was about my age. It was a pity she was too poor to go to school in a car. That was why she was cycling.
It could have been any one of us girls.
I continue to remember such stories and feel saddened by such cases of an unemployed man facing six months; jail, a poor girl getting punished in class because the teacher preferred the other girl who came from a rich family,etc.
Visit:
http://www.cfbelenenses.blogspot.com
thank you LL for visiting.
Checked your blog but unfortunately I don't know your language. Hope you will come and learn more about the soul and spirit of Sarawak.
Alison would you have similar stories from your grandmother(s) about the wearing of black trousers and buns?
Let me know. We can exchange views.
thanks.
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