ChanKelwin.com

A few weeks ago, a female blogger received an email threat. The perpetrator threatened to kidnap her from her office and later gang rape her. Shaken and unsure if all that was just a sick joke, the victim made a police report together with the printed emails and IP addresses of the perpetrator.

Just a few days ago, the victim reported that the perpetrator was caught by the police. It turned out that the emails were sent out by a group of college kids. Due to the fact that all emails were sent using the same computer, the guy who owned the computer was held responsible.

The police asked her if she wanted to press charges or to let him go. The boy’s father called up the victim to beg her not to press charges against the boy for it will destroy his future. In the end, she let him off the hook after requesting a letter of apology.

This story proves that no one is completely anonymous online. You will get caught even when you are not using your regular email address. Most (if not all) ISP keeps a record that shows which IP address was used by a particular account at any given time frame.

When you have crossed the line, prepare to face the music. Remember, comment sensibly or don’t at all.

Stumble it!   Share it!   Subscribe to my feed

While reading the article Tough task against VIP smokers yesterday, I was reminded by the bad experience I had dining in a restaurant a week ago. The food was nice and the price was quite cheap. The thing that spoilt the whole experience was the fact that they allowed customers to smoke in the restaurant.

Didn’t the government enforce a no smoking policy indoors, especially in an air-conditioned public place a few years ago? There I was, sitting in a restaurant where the smoking and non-smoking area was separated only by an imaginary line. I’m not stopping anyone from puffing away but neither should I be robbed off my rights to breathing unpolluted air.

Anyway, back to the topic…

In the article, Perak Health Department director Datuk Dr Ahmad Razin Ahmad Mahir was quoted saying, “We want to respect them (VIPs) by not issuing summonses against them. But if we don’t do that, we’ll be seen as not doing our duty”.

Why does it seem that certain groups of individuals are being treated “differently” from normal citizens? The article mentioned that health officers find it difficult to issue summons to VIPs if they were caught smoking in smoke-free areas. Why is that so? Out of respect? Fear of losing their job? Shouldn’t every individual be treated the same way when they break the law, regardless of status?

In another incident, Khairy Jamaluddin was reported having 17 traffic summonses unpaid that totaled up to RM5,100. 6 out of the 17 summonses were due to speeding. He later cleared the summonses when it was reduced to RM1,740. That is a 65% “discount” (RM3,360) for his offences.

Karl commented in the article saying:

By having 6 speeding summons, its more then enough to get his driving license suspended under JPJ’s Kejara system.

Is it true that Khairy Jamaluddin’s license should have been suspended under JPJ’s Kejara system? I’m not well versed with the law but if that is true, why wasn’t it suspended? Here’s a list (courtesy of Malaysiakini) of the cabinet’s unpaid traffic fines and the discount given as reported last year.

Are there any non-VIP driver reading this that has something to share?

Stumble it!   Share it!   Subscribe to my feed

Crimes do happen (almost) on a daily basis in Malaysia. Let it be snatch thief, rape, robbery, murder etc. The thing that I find displeasing sometimes isn’t the person who committed the crime but the group of people who caught the perpetrator in the act.

If my memory doesn’t fail me, I’ve read articles and seen some videos that showed the snatch thief was beaten up badly by those who caught him. I’ve seen videos where the perpetrator was kicked in the face and beaten up repeatedly on the legs with a wood. (I saw that video on a blog but couldn’t find it anymore. If any of you have seen that video and knows where it is, please inform me. Thanks!)

Now, I’m not protecting these perpetrators who have caused great harm to the victims. I understand that some of the victims who suffered from such crimes ended up hurt, paralyzed or even dead. However, that doesn’t justify the actions taken by those who caught them. There are laws in this country. Beating up an individual (even though he is a criminal) is punishable by law (I think — I don’t study law). Call the police and let the law take its course.

A report by The Star yesterday (22 May 2007) reads:

KLANG: A 42-year-old unemployed man was beaten to death by a group of people after he allegedly tried to grab a waist pouch from a trader in the Jalan Meru wet market here.

I think it is quite common people take things into their own hands when they catch someone committing a crime. Often, anger and frustration takes over logical thinking. It definitely doesn’t take a few blows to kill a man. I imagine the deceased must have received dozens of blows to his upper body to end up dead. The report states that he died on the spot and the case has been classified as murder.

The question now is, who (if any) will end up with the murder charge? The person who gave the “deadly blow”? To me, all those who landed a fist, a boot, a stick or whatever instrument used to caused injury to the deceased must be charged. There are laws in this country. A crime is still a crime even though it was done to “punish” another crime.

I’ll share with you a video I got from youtube on an alleged thief (student) caught by the other students in one of our local universities. The video may be a little disturbing, so proceed with caution.

Stumble it!   Share it!   Subscribe to my feed