I suppose the story of a chcken thief who couldn’t recognise a chicken in court as the one he was alleged to have stolen was meant to provide some comic relief in the The Star. You are meant to chuckle or laugh when you read it.
But read the report more carefully and you will see that the accused had to support his family on RM25 a day. That’s about RM750/month, putting the household on the threshold of the official poverty line. Nothing to laugh about there. And he gets three months jail for stealing a chicken.
Now we shouldn’t condone even petty theft.
But we all know how difficult it is for any household to survive on less than RM1,500/month or even more, let alone RM750.
How about poverty in a land of plenty? Do we condone that?
My question now: what is the penalty for those who are now allowing TNB to bleed RM500 million in “capacity charges” over the next eight months by allowing an IPP to operate a power plant (Jimah) to provide electricity that the country doesn’t need? The Jimah plant, which will be operational in January, will raise the country’s power reserve margin to 45 per cent. The CEO of TNB says the country doesn’t need the power and can do without it. Who will profit from the Jimah power plant?
Will anyone be hauled up to account for this?
The Star
Friday December 12, 2008
Chicken thief couldn’t recognise birdIPOH: A man who admitted to stealing a chicken got amused looks in a magistrate’s court here when he could not recognise the same bird brought to him for identification.
Contract worker R. Maran, 29, was asked to identify the bird after pleading guilty to stealing the 1.5kg cockerel from a coop in Hala Perindustrian Menglembu 13, here, on Oct 10.
However, when owner carried the chicken into the magistrate’s court yesterday, Maran unexpectedly denied that the black bird with brown chest feathers was the one he had stolen.
“What? You think it has been switched?” asked prosecuting officer Asst Supt Jamaluddin Osman to chuckles from the public gallery.
At one point, ASP Jamaluddin even brought out a photograph of the stolen chicken to compare it with the live bird for Maran’s benefit.
The prosecuting officer and magistrate Sharmila Abdul Samad finally pointed out to the accused that the chicken would have grown bigger since the theft two months ago.
Maran then acknowledged that it was the same bird, and pleaded to the court for a lighter sentence as he had to support his wife and two young children. He also said his family was poor and that he only earned RM25 a day.
The magistrate sentenced him to three months’ jail from Oct 10, the date he was caught red-handed with the chicken at the coop.
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And oh, btw, for those who didn’t read the Bible and still want to quote Jesus, please do yourself a big favor, go read and _UNDERSTAND_ the Bible before you talk about Jesus.
Thank you !
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Penang
Technically, you are absolutely correct and nobody should challenge your logic and argument. However, we do not have ice water running in our veins and we are after all human beings with all our human failings. I for my part choose to show my compassion and not pass judgement on my fellow human beings less I be judged by someone higher in authority. I guess that we are lucky you are not a judge in a legal court or you will be appropriately named “Judge Roy Bean, The Hanging Judge”. Thank God for little mercies.
I think the point that most readers want to make is that the severity of the sentence and the situation of this “criminal” (let’s not mince words then) being the bread winner earning RM750 a month and struggling to feed his family.
You are right; we will all be dead one day but I want to stand before my maker having shown some compassion in my life than to be just “absolutely correct”.
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My first message for this thread was in response to Anil’s “Oh this poor guy only stole a chicken” article. I didn’t comment on the sentencing part, my only point is that anyone who commit a crime, be it tiny or huge, must be prepared for spending the time in jail.
And all of a sudden all you “compassionate” people jumped.
Compassion is one thing, the ABUSE of that “compassion” is another.
This country of ours is in such a disarray precisely because it is not run BY LAW. It’s by man — as long as the “Orang Atas” say this guy ain’t going jail, that guy is freed….
All I want is our country to return to THE RULE OF LAW — that is, no matter who you are, if you commit a crime, it’s jail time or a rope around your neck.
It’s that simple.
Sure, you may want to show your maker that you are compassionate, but do you think your maker would approve of your abuse of that compassionate feeling of yours?
Ever think of why God giveth us a BRAIN? Do you think God giveth us a brain so we DO NOT THINK?
Stop relying on your emotion and start using your brain, buddy. Start looking at things exactly what they are — a crime is a crime, committed by a poor man is a crime, committed by a rich guy is also a crime.
Only by that way our country may get a second chance. That no more abuse from higher up.
If the RULE OF LAW becomes a reality, do you think those behind the new Jimah power plant and those running TNB can get away scot free by fleecing the public billions of dollars?
When it comes the day I die, when I stand in front of my maker, I will tell Him exactly this — “You giveth me a brain, and I didn’t waste it.”
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In this world there are many pariahs. Today, I see a fanatic pariah.
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Well. from my understanding of the Bible, Jesus was the original rebel with a cause. He challenged the Pharisees and and their holier than thou pretensions. He associated with prostitutes and tax collectors. He called quite a few people hypocrites.
He was basically trying to put things in context and this is what a good Christian is supposed to emulate. We can’t do the 40 day hunger strike. He’s God and we’re not.
Jesus, my kinda guy.
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POVERTY AND HUNGER
13th Dec. 2008
Oliver Richards reports as follows:
The number of undernourished people in the world has increased from 923 million in 2007 to 963 million in 2008. This disturbing figure comes from a report on world hunger released on December 9 by the Rome-based UN Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), entitled The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008.
The report notes that the number of chronically hungry people rose by 75 million in 2007, while the 2008 figure shows an increase of 40 million. The recent increase in the number of hungry people has been exacerbated by high food prices, especially in developing countries.
In a news release on the FAO web site, FAO Assistant Director-General Hafez Ghanem underscored the difficulties being faced by people in the developing world:
“For millions of people in developing countries, eating the minimum amount of food every day to live an active and healthy life is a distant dream. The structural problems of hunger, like the lack of access to land, credit and employment, combined with high food prices remain a dire reality.”
For further details goto:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/dec2008/hung-d13.shtml
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How to find out who the wife is? If all of us here can chip in just rm10 and four other outraged friends to do the same, at least the family will have around RM1.5k to tide them over a bit.
I know we can’t solve everyone’s problems but it seems like in this case, we can do one thing. Because I think there are many outraged people who wouldn’t mind parting with RM10, also as a sign of solidarity at the injustice.
Yeah, I wonder who’s the chicken owner who had to bring this man to court. Couldn’t he have worked out a more compassionate way of retribution? Wonder what religion he professes.
Can we do this one thing? This season of goodwill and giving?
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BTW, that was another report of bad taste on Star’s part.
Sometimes, I really worry at the values Star is promoting through their warped editorial values (mostly middle to upper class angles that show little compassion or empathy for the downtrodden) as reflected in ‘amusing’ stories like that.
On the bright side, they have a few great columnists. Here’s one that has a similar theme underlying it – Familiarity breeds compassion http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/12/14/lifefocus/2766860&sec=lifefocus
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Thank you to Dr. Hamid Ibrahim and Siew Eng for your meaningful contributions. It was actually I who pointed out chicken thief story to Anil and asked if he could highlight it in his blog. (Sorry for all the stick you got, Anil!)
With one exception, I can safely say thank God there are some caring people left in this world.
3 months. 3 whole months. If the rule of law is applied, those scumbags who steal millions should get a thousand lifetimes.
As Siew Eng suggested, RM10 from each of us sounds good. The thing about charity is it’s quite faceless most of the time. Anyone know how to get the ball rolling?
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I don’t mind even giving RM20. Please Anil, do start a fund. Be the first blogger to start a fund to help a good soul in need.
I am confident we can collect at least Rm1000
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Ganesh seth the following:
“In this world there are many pariahs. Today, I see a fanatic pariah.”
Gee, Ganesh, have you ever stood in front of a mirror?
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The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines a fanatic as a person filled with excessive zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause.
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Andrew, The Concise Oxford English Dictionary does define it perfectly. Surprising that some fanatics are not compassionate despite preaching a lot.
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Come on TNB…. You (TNB) own 20% of Jimah shares. How come you (TNB) complaining and wanted to charge it on the consumer. Lets say RM 1 billion gone to JIMAH. TNB will get back their 20% in which by simple stupid calculation to be RM200 Million. Playing games and always blames IPP for their own laziness.
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Andrew, can you pls give your bank account number here so that we all can start banking in our pledges?
Of if you are reluctant, we can always mail you a cheque.
Once you collect from all of us, you can give to the person’s family.
There is an element of urgency here, so Anil, pls start the ball rolling by putting another post with regards to the chicken thief.
Dear Ganesh, Nice thought there. All we know is that he is R Maran charged in a magistrate’s court in Ipoh. He was sentenced to three months jail from 10 Oct, which means he should have been out by 10 Dec, if he is given one third remission for good behaviour. cheers Anil
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Oh well !!!!
A new way to get rich.
Go steal a chicken, get caught, tell the world that you need to feed your family, and walla !!! All the kind-hearted folks chip in $$$$$$
Groovy man, grooooooovvvvy !!!
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People preach so much, but sound really like Satan in disguise.
Satan is cold hearted. So are you if you are cold hearted. Satan has no mercy, so are you if you have no mercy.
Pity that some people do not know that they are really Satan in disguise.
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A crime remains a crime but there may be some circumstances in which we can agree that the punishment befitting the crime may be lessened in recognition of the specific and special environment or situation which may have compelled him to commit that crime. I have witnessed mitigation in court for single parents who have been driven to theft to provide even the most basic of necessities…infant formula milk for their babies..would you say this justifies throwing her into jail? The plight of the baby? This is what is known as mitigating circumstances, Penang! It’s not justifying the crime but lessening the sentence in light of the specific circumstances.
The state of affairs in our country these days is a direct result of the negligence, corruption and sheer thievery that exists among (certain of) our so-called leaders. There are many poor people who are not educated and do not have anywhere to turn in these difficult times. Options are few, with our politicians and leaders being embroiled in one scandal or the other, almost on a daily basis…to busy to get down to the business of govrerning the country.
Penang, I find it difficult to believe that you live in Malaysia and actually had to go through 4 days without food!!! Just sit at any walkway and beg…you will find that some kind soul will throw a few coins your way. 4 days without food? You are just an educated person,no..let me rephrase that…you are obviously a person who has been to school, which we can surmise from the tone and language of your comments, and you are trying only to provoke some emphathy for yourself by saying you know what it’s like not to have eaten for 4 days. Just go and beg, man. Or at least offer to wash dishes at any restaurant. You will find jobs aplenty and perhaps you will also discover the meaning of humility.
I am not a christian, i do not read the bible and i do not claim any form of wisdom or wit. But i believe that humility is what made all great people attain their greatness. “The meek shall inherit the earth”. Or am I wrong?
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kalau da cukup power ,plant x operate
tapi jimah plant still operate bile di perlukan
camner tu???
kadang2 org x tau pon still nak comment
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