Reply to Various Comments on PDRM Allows Mob Justice

Recently I posted a video on my blog which showed the capture of a couple of alledged criminals by a crowd of people and finally the police arrived to bring the alledged criminals into custody. In the process, these alledged criminals were bashed by a mob of onlookers, even though by that time the alledged criminals were securely apprehended by the police. One thug even using a hammer aimed at the head of the man. My gripe was with the police who instead of taking control of the situation seemed overwhelmed with it all and did not stop the mob from attacking the alledged criminals.

The comments received from this post was nothing short of staggering. While I was disgusted with the level of violence these thugs accorded the alledged criminals, many comments applauded the "heros" for taking the law into their own hands and said that the criminals deserved the pulping that they were given, overlooking the fact that these were alledged criminals and have not been found guilty of any crime yet let alone the bashing of a human being using a hammer is attempted murder. Not realising that taking the law into their own hands, being judge, jury and executioneer have far reaching consequences if left unchecked in a civilised society.

Some comments indicated that I did not know the "real" situation in Malaysia because I was sitting on my moral high perch in Perth and living in an idealistic world, not knowing that I've lived most of my life in Malaysia, seen violent crime first hand and suffered the injustices from the lack of police action several times. Well at least I'm not accused of having low morals.

Some comments called me a "coward" without saying why. All I have to say to those is that a coward is a person who bashes a defenceless person who posed no threat at all while being apprehended by the police. Malaysians are good to talk and criticize but when it is time to walk their talk, they can't do it. These are the real cowards who walk away from helping someone who find themselves being in a violent confrontation but magically find the guts to bash the perpetrator in when they get apprehended, pose no threat whatsoever and outnumber them 20-1. Sure real brave.

It is also common and evident from the comments that some Malaysians cannot have a disagreement/ argument without childish name calling and profanities. Their mental maturity and irrational arguments especially when putting it in writing unfortunately do not reflect that of a civil and progressive society.

Anyway back to the crux of the matter and here is my reply:

1. If as some comments say the law is too slack, then the law has to be changed. The people, NGOs, opposition party and so on have to put pressure on the government to change the laws to toughen up on crime. This is hapening in many other countries and laws are changed everyday. Taking the law into your own hands is not the answer and have far reaching social consequences if out of control. If left unchecked and mob behaviour is encourage then it could come to a stage where your neighbour bashes your head in with a hammer if you block his car in or he doesn't like your face. Don't laugh, I've seen people come to blows because of car parking problems.
2. If the government cannot provide basic law and order, then the government needs to be replaced. It's easy to say that the police are not doing their job, close a blind eye etc. etc. but the people can do something about it (apart from bashing defenceless people). They can put pressure on their local ADUN, get the press's attention and vote in elections but many prefer to sit on their arses and suggest violence as a retaliation because they know no better or are just inherently and outwardly violent but are inwardly real cowards. They only talk tough and write profanities but when put to the real test, like helping out a person being mugged, most Malaysians will chicken out.
3. Everyone gets their day in court and cannot be judged guilty without having their basic human right to defend themselves. People who know me well know I'm very much into victim's rights as opposed to the criminals rights but the very least is that they should have their day in court. How many people on the scene or commenting on this blog actually saw the crime being committed. I won't hesitate to guess very few. The problem with mob rule happens due to the fact that these alledged criminals have been judged to be guilty by the mob, even though the majority of them did not see what hapened.
4. Human rights must be accorded to all people, alledged criminals as well. Once they are found guilty by a judge or a jury then it's fair to say that some of those rights will be removed. Even Jeffrey Dahmer, the most notorious serial killer had his day in court.

In all, the comments received on this blog rather surprised me but has shown me a few things.

1. Some Malaysians still have very narrow minded and childish views especially when making comments. They get very personal and criticise the author and bring his family in the fray instead of sticking to the topic at hand.
2. Some Malaysians talk rather gung ho with profanity laced language but very few are like that in a real life situation preferring to instead hide behind the veil of anonymous in cyberspace feeling braver that way.
3. Some Malaysians are very uncivilised and know only one way to solve a growing problem. They get frustrated and suggest violence (or at least they say that they will) instead of putting pressure on the powers that be to provide better law and order in the country. They talk and criticize a lot but actually do nothing to contribute to the society they live in.

Anyway enough said and I'm actually very dissappointed with seeing the feedback from the posted video. If Malaysia is going to be a developed nation by the year 2020, a lot of things need to change (read: "Malaysia 2020 Where Art Thou" on the previous post) not least the backward and uncivilised mentality of some of it's people.