To say that I was appalled would be an understatement. But how else would you describe strong emotions that were a combination of disgust, horror and disbelief? Those were my feelings when I read about the bag-snatcher who is now in a coma as a result of being beaten up by several guys. Purportedly, to teach him a lesson for his wrongdoing. But what lesson was the Datin teaching her son, and his friends, when she (according to the newspaper) instructed him to do so? Tit-for-tat? Don't get me wrong; of course I do not condone bag-snatching, or any form of thievery for that matter. But to have someone beaten up - into a coma - infront of you? Is that not itself a crime? Almost Mafia-like, the stuff of Hollywood fiction.
What was the Datin thinking? Or, wasn't she? To drive home a point that crime doesn't pay? Or, that the title gives her the right to mete out her own punishment? If so, it is clearly a case of an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Dare I suggest 'anger management' instead? If she did actually ask her son to do her bidding, did she not realise that she was sowing the seeds of criminal behaviour in her son? If at this point he wasn't able to define the line between right and wrong, what hope is there after this? In no way can this be the track to raising a caring family, much less a caring society.
The Datin needs to learn a lesson too. That no one is above the law. If nothing else, so that other title holders will not deem it their God-given right to inflict punishment or retribution at their whim and fancy. Try turning the tables around - what if it were her son that got beaten up into a coma? How would she react? I may not have all the facts of the case; but to know that another woman can have another woman's son beaten up severely over a handbag leaves me reeling. Just as in no way can crime - no matter how minor - be justified, neither can the act of taking the law into your own hands.
I hope the guy recovers. Meanwhile, my heart goes out to the mother. I can imagine the trauma she's undergoing - something I would not wish upon any mother; not even the handbag-mad Datin.
What was the Datin thinking? Or, wasn't she? To drive home a point that crime doesn't pay? Or, that the title gives her the right to mete out her own punishment? If so, it is clearly a case of an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Dare I suggest 'anger management' instead? If she did actually ask her son to do her bidding, did she not realise that she was sowing the seeds of criminal behaviour in her son? If at this point he wasn't able to define the line between right and wrong, what hope is there after this? In no way can this be the track to raising a caring family, much less a caring society.
The Datin needs to learn a lesson too. That no one is above the law. If nothing else, so that other title holders will not deem it their God-given right to inflict punishment or retribution at their whim and fancy. Try turning the tables around - what if it were her son that got beaten up into a coma? How would she react? I may not have all the facts of the case; but to know that another woman can have another woman's son beaten up severely over a handbag leaves me reeling. Just as in no way can crime - no matter how minor - be justified, neither can the act of taking the law into your own hands.
I hope the guy recovers. Meanwhile, my heart goes out to the mother. I can imagine the trauma she's undergoing - something I would not wish upon any mother; not even the handbag-mad Datin.
Atom Feed (xml)
No comments:
Post a Comment