YOURSAY | Deaf driver's case resonates with common folk

YOURSAY | ‘Justice was not served and was not transparent.’

I wanted to see his face, says disappointed deaf driver

Cogito Ergo Sum: The deaf and mute have no voice under the Madani government.

The fine imposed on deaf e-hailing driver Ong Ing Keong’s assailant, police officer Muhammad Taufik Ismail, is a slap on the face of the victim and all disabled people.

Ong must pursue the matter in the civil courts and must ask for exemplary as well as punitive damages from the assailant.

The assailant is a disgrace to the force and to the system that is protecting his identity.

LimePanther5220: This government is not very wise. Why show itself to be protecting the culprit? What’s the difference between paying RM1,000 and RM2000?

Just impose the maximum fine and send the fellow to jail for one month.

If Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail loves his men, just dig into his pocket to help him pay the fine.

Sitting in jail for a short while is also nothing to the police officer - no work, free food, and time for reflection.

And of course, the government should publish the fellow’s photo if there is nothing to hide.

These are all doable things at a small cost, but this government chooses the wrong path.

Reset: Just another perspective. Is Ong still very emotionally disturbed by this incident?

If yes, should Deaf Advocacy and Well-being National Organisation Malaysia (Dawn) continue to drag him into so-called securing justice, especially if the police officer has at least received his deserved penalty (and likely disciplinary action from the police) despite unexplainable delay?

The police officer also delivered a formal apology to Ong, though not in person. In brief, justice is now served but may not be fully satisfactorily, especially to Ong.

Instead, Dawn should render help to him and others so that we have better systems to protect and serve them, including uniformed institutions (such as training to better deal with the disabled).

Let’s close this case and help Ong go back to his routine. Forgiveness is sometimes the right medicine for this type of unhappy experience.

Mano @ Reset: Ong stands tall, and is an example of someone who stood up against the high-handedness of those supported by powerful people.

He may be an ordinary person, he was traumatised, or he may be psychologically affected, but he stands tall not only for the deaf community but also in the fight against injustice, unfairness and other things that are inflicted upon the common people. 

Any ordinary person may have given up.

Many people do not realise, or purposely pretend not to know, that violence by those who are paid to protect us, left unchecked and unpunished, is just unacceptable and barbaric.  

Syabas and kudos to Ong and Dawn

Hmmmmmmmm: What Dawn said is very interesting. Thinking further, is there even such a police officer called Muhammad Taufik Ismail?

Since only his lawyer was present in court, somebody might have given the lawyer a fictitious name just to close the case without any untoward consequences to the real perpetrator.

The section in which he was charged seemed unusually light if you ask me.

Milshah: We want a lot of things in life, but whether we get it or not is a different story.

Everyone acts based on the law. As far as the law is concerned, this case is closed.

The court ordered him to pay the RM1,000 penalty, and that’s all he needed to do.

Meeting face-to-face is not required by the law and, therefore, wanting that sounds more like wishful thinking.

It is unlikely to happen.

Darmakochi: Ong, I feel the same way that you do. A face-to-face apology is in order.

Possibly a randomly selected person was chosen to close the case as soon as possible.

It looks like the government wanted to be done with it.

I hope in the next general election, this government will get a big political slap!

UB40: The question is, with the RM1,000 fine, does the police officer still have his job or be sacked? Another question.

If it was the other way around and the victim was a police officer, would the Attorney-General’s Chambers charge the assailant with the same penal code?

I hope this victim will file a civil action to claim compensation from this police officer. Only then will I feel justice was served.

KK Voter: Is it normal for the victim of an assault crime not to be notified or asked to be present when the aggressor is charged?  

Grab drivers should be extra vigilant and strictly obey all traffic laws to the letter from now on; you never know if some officers might be seeking payback for one of their own.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some thought this way.

Headhunter: If there ever was a court case where the perpetrator is sheltered by the authorities, this is one.

Quite shameful really, whatever the reason. It’s a double standard, anyway one looks at it.

The fact that the case, a simple one of assault, was deliberately put off for so long tells us something is off.

WhiteLlama4337: Shame, shame, shame. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is braying for justice for Palestinians at the UN but is silent on this matter.

Shame, shame, shame on all the cabinet ministers who have also kept silent. I hope your day of reckoning for your silence and misdeeds comes soon.

Shame, shame, shame.

GrayParrot9290: The prime minister, home minister, communications minister and Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain have no comments and just want to close the case and move on.

Justice was not served and was not transparent. Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) and others continue to press for true justice and transparency.

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