The event was a great success. Many thanks to eLawyer and the attendees of this conference. A special thank you to all the students who volunteered to help out in organising the event.
Some of the students that helped out :D
We started off slightly later than the scheduled time as many people were late due to the morning rain and traffic jam.
The crowd picked up quickly and swelled to probably around 200 people. Some of the participants were students, business owners and even lawyers. Fellow bloggers, Suanie, Peter Tan, Chris Tock, Zoe and Julian Hopkins were there as well. A accompanied me to the talk as well.
Me, Eddie, founder of eLawyer and Suanie
The event organiser, eLawyer is an online portal for law related industries. At eLawyer.com.my , you can post job vacancies for people with legal background e.g. lawyers, legal counsel, paralegals, secretaries, chambering students and even attachment students. You can even post legal questions for eLawyer's panel lawyers to answer.
The conference was organised to educate the general public on the laws that affects blogging in Malaysia. I was given the task of speaking about Intellectual Property and blogging. I spoke mainly about trade marks and copyright. The other speaker, namely, Nizam Bashir spoke on, among others, defamation and sedition. Both of us were given 45 minutes to speak and also a 15 minute Q and A session.
Nizam and I were speakers together with Jeff Ooi last year at the Forum on Blogging and Defamation held at the Bar Council. It was great to be speaking alongside with Nizam again.
Me and Nizam
After speaking at the rate of a speeding motor boat, the floor was opened for Q and A. Julian Hopkins came up with two questions about Creative Commons License, an item which I am not very familiar with. I managed to waffle my way through and took up other questions. I was then bombarded with numerous questions. It was kinda challenging especially when I had less than a minute to come out with an answer for each question. Fortunately, the questions were not so tough and I managed to waffle my way through again.
Julian Hopkins
Chris Tock
The Chairpersons came to the rescue when they announced that the Q and A session is over. But I wasn't satisfied as I wanted to answer more questions! I felt that I fare better in Q and As than giving a boring talk.
Nizam
Nizam came up next and spoke about many interesting local cases involving blogs on defamation and sedition. RPK's name came up numerous times. I hope there will be a reported judgement on his case to set as a precedent to many future cases.
After the talk and Nizam's Q and A session, prizes were given to the participants and winners of the eLawyer Legal Blog Writing Contest 2008. Lee Shih and Fahri Azzat were the judges for this contest and they personally presented prizes to them.
At around 12:30pm, the conference ended. I was immediately approached by the media and some participants. The Chinese media was more interested in my Chinese name rather than what I had earlier mentioned. I guess they understood my talk clearly!
Fellow participant, Vince on the left waiting for me to write my name in Chinese. It looked like I'm giving my autograph.
After the talk, I had lunch with Suanie, Peter Tan and his wife, Julian Hopkins and A. If you're a blogger or a blog reader, please head to http://www.budurl.com/myblogs2009 to complete a survey conducted by Julian. He's doing a thesis on monetisation of Malaysian blogs for his PHD. I think this is beneficial for fellow Malaysians and thus please help out.
The conference was reported on Sin Chew Newspaper, China Press, Malaysiakini and New Straits Times. My face appeared on Sin Chew and New Straits Times. My face looked pale and my eyes looked red in NST. HEHE.
I look like I'm going to launch a fireball with my hands. Ka me haaa
Some people asked me whether I was paid to give the talk. No, I was not paid to give the talk. But eLawyer was nice enough to give a small token of appreciation.
My next talk will be 12 April 2009 at New Straits Times. I don't have much details on the event but it has something to do with blogging for adults. I will be covering the legal part while some other bloggers will be covering technical aspect of blogging and even on public relation. Please come if you're free!
Last year, Jeff Ooi, Nizam Bashir and I spoke at the Forum on Blogging and Defamation Law at the Bar Council, an event organised by the KL Bar. Next month, eLawyer will be organising a law conference themed "Blogging and Law" at University Malaya. Nizam and I are invited to speak in this conference. Admission is free. If you're interested in attending, please RSVP with eLawyer.
(Click on image for bigger size)
Anyone can blog. Anyone can also blog and get sued or sometimes facing the threat of being sentenced to spend years in jail.
It is however, understandable that not every blogger is well versed with the law, and therefore don’t know their rights and liabilities. Here are a few examples of which you may be able to relate to:
- Is it against the law when I link to other blogs?
- What should I do if someone claims that I have infringed his or her copyrights?
- Do I have rights to ask someone to remove the link to my blog?
- Can I use pictures found in other websites or google images?
- If I found out others have defamed me in their blogs, what should I do?
This is the reason eLawyer.com.my brings you the eLawyer Law Conference 2009, themed “Blogging and Law”. It is our sincere hope that bloggers will have the sufficient legal awareness in them that they are able to protect themselves in case of defamation claim or accusations of copyright infringements.
The details of the conference are as follows:
Theme: Blogging and Law
Date: 14 March 2009
Time: 9.30am – 12.30pm
Fees: F.O.C.
Venue: Auditorium Tun Mohd Suffian, UM Law Faculty
Co-Organiser: Law Society of University of Malaya
Topic 1: Blogging & Intellectual Property Law in Malaysia (By Mr. Foong Cheng Leong, KL Lawyer & Blogger)
You will learn about:
1. Is it against the law when I link to other blogs?
2. What should I do if someone claims that I have infringed his or her copyrights?
3. Do I have rights to ask someone to remove the link to my blog?
4. Can I use pictures found in other websites or google images?
And many more…
Topic 2: Blogging & Defamation Law in Malaysia (By Mr. Nizam Bashir, Malacca Lawyer & Blogger)
You will learn about:
1. What amount to defamatory statement?
2. What should I do if someone claims that the content of my blog defames him?
3. If I have found out others have defamed me in their blog, what shall I do?
4. What are the remedies available for defamation action?
And many more…
Registration: The admission to this conference is FREE. However, please R.S.V.P by sending your details (Name, Tel, Email, Occupation and Organisation) to forum@elawyer.com.my on or before10 March 2009 (extended).
Note: We will hold the award ceremony of Legal Blog Writing Contest 2008 in conjunction with this law conference. As such, we urge those who have taken part in the said contest to attend this conference.
It is quite common for law firms in the United States and United Kingdom to have their own blogs. In those blogs, they usually would post entries on latest development of the law. Most of the time, its quite impersonal and serious.
Recently, fellow lawyer Richard Wee and Sunil Lopez joined forces to set up Messrs. Richard Wee Lopez. They have also established a blog at http://richardweelopez.blogspot.com/ - perhaps one of the first law firms in Malaysia to have a blog. Congrats to Richard and Sunil and welcome to the blogosphere.
On another note, I will be giving a talk at eLawyer Law Conference 2009 which will be held at the Law Faculty University Malaya some time in March. Most likely I will be talking about Blogging and Intellectual Property law. Watch this space!
BLOGGING has become the new way of life of Malaysians. It is without doubt a new form of media where a large number of the public refer to these days in addition to the mainstream media.
With this comes responsibility. It is settled that bloggers are liable for what they say and for what other people post on their blogs. The following laws are applicable to bloggers:
> Civil and criminal defamation;
> Sedition;
> Communication and Multi- media Act 1998; and,
> Copyright infringement.
The above list is not exhaustive and it is hoped that the following will serve as a short guide to minimise the risks of blogging.
One of the most common actions brought against website owners (which include a blogger) is a defamation suit. The definition of defamation is not a static concept.
It has been defined that a statement may be defamatory when it tends “to lower a person in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally” or “to cut him off from society” or “to expose him to hatred, contempt or ridicule”.
Defamatory statements may not only arise from written postings but also from videos (embedded in the blog), pictures/drawings/graphics, sound and even hyperlinks. Recent- ly, a Malaysian High Court held that a website owner is liable for a hyperlink posted by a commentor that links to a website containing a defamatory statement.
The consequence of being liable for defamation is grave. It can drain you financially and make you a bankrupt. It can even put you in jail if it falls under criminal defamation. Even a food review blogger can be subject to a defamation suit. Thus to avoid such problems, the following steps are recommended:
> Avoid potentially defamatory statements;
> Moderate comments;
> Identification of commentor’s details;
> Warning to commentors;
> Disclaimer;
> Disable Cache; and,
> Anonymity.
The most obvious, and the most important, step to take from being slapped with defamation action is to avoid defamatory statements.
Always ensure that what you write is true. If you are unable to verify the truth of a statement on your blog, junk it. Avoid criticising other people on your blog, as sometimes the criticism can be taken as defamatory.
Another type of entry you should avoid is rumour-based entries. It is advisable not to repeat a rumour made by others, unless you can prove it.
As mentioned earlier, what got many website owners into trouble is what their readers posted. And website owners are liable for comments made by other parties published on their website.
In this regard, website owners can be subject to an application to the court compelling them to reveal the identity of the commentor. It should not be much of a problem to website owners to reveal the identity, but sometimes the order goes a bit further than that.
For example, there were cases where website owners were compelled to reveal Malaysian identity card numbers of their commentors, and also slapped with costs payable to the complainant.
Thus, it is useful to set up a system to filter comments and require commentors to register themselves before they can submit comments. Alternatively, the website owner may have in place a stringent ap- proval system where comments will only be posted upon approval.
Further, you may also reveal the details of the commentors such as their Internet Protocol (IP) address, time of posting and e-mail address on the website upon the posting of the comment.
By revealing such details, the commentors can be traced through their Internet service provider, etc. This may restrain commentors from posting malicious comments.
It would also be useful to place a warning stating that commentors are liable for what they say or that you will reveal their details to the authorities upon request. The warning can be fortified with a disclaimer, which could be useful to discourage defamatory statements.
The disclaimer can go along these lines: “The comments contained on this blog reflect the views of the author and do not in any way represent that of the owner of this blog.” This serves as notice that the views of the commentors are not shared by the blogger.
Many consider websites such as WayBack Machine and Google Cache as God‘s gifts to computer geeks. These websites keep a record of your website and are quite useful when you lose the contents of your website. You can retrieve some of your lost documents from there.
But this also means that anyone can retrieve anything deleted from your website, including defamatory statements that had been removed. But not to fear, for there is also a special option where you can stop these websites from keeping a record of your website.
If all the above fail to avoid a letter of demand or you just wish to have a carefree blog, then try blogging anonymously. This would include setting up a blog using a pseudonym with no trace of the person’s identity on the blog. Some do it for their own protection, and some do it so that they cannot be found.
Although distasteful, this allows bloggers to avoid being discovered and to post entries without any restriction. But if caught, they will suffer grave repercussion. In a recent Canadian court decision, anonymous electronic postings of defamatory material were not only actionable but would also warrant a high damages award.
With the upcoming High Speed Broadband (HSBB) rollout, we can expect more content-rich blogs. With this, the dissemination of information may expand to methods which are unknown to us now. There will therefore be new laws and challenges ahead.
Putik Lada, or pepper buds in Malay, captures the spirit and intention of this column – a platform for young lawyers to articulate their views and aspirations about the law, justice and a civil society. For more information about the young lawyers, please visit www.malaysianbar.org.my/nylc.
As part of the KL Bar Information Technology Committee's role, the Forum on Identity Theft in the cyber world was organised. I was appointed as a moderator for this forum and it was attended by around 30 - 40 people ranging from lectures to lawyers.
The three speakers, Deepak Pillai (a leading lawyer), Prof. Abu Bakar Munir (Professor in Law from University of Malaya) and Shamsul Jafni Salleh (former Director of Security, Trust and Governance Department of Malaysian Communication And Multimedia Commission (MCMC)) were very informative and resourceful. The speakers shared their knowledge on identity theft and the ways to prevent it. Particular importance was placed on phishing, a process of fraudulently acquiring sensitive information of a person e.g. bank account number. This can be done by, for example, sending an email under the pretence of a bank officer to require an account holder to reveal their username and password. The way to avoid this is to simply ignore the email. Banks never send emails to their customers ask them to reveal their information.
Another useful information was shared by Encik Shamsul Jafni Salleh. He said that MCMC acts on complaints made by the public against websites. They can request owners of the website e.g. blogger.com to shut down such website or even request internet service providers to block such website.
In the end of the presentation, Professor Abu Bakar Munir shared a short clip of a news report about a real life US phisher. The US phisher was a young man who thought his actions will only be punishable with probation. He ended up serving more than 10 years in jail.
Thereafter, the floor was opened to the participants to share their opinion and to ask questions. One of the most interesting facts shared by one of the members is that someone has been charged under the Malaysian Computer Crimes Act 1997 in Ipoh. So far, there is no report in any of the local law reports highlighting such cases. This may be because proceedings under the Malaysian Computer Crimes Act 1997 are tried in lower Courts (local law reports usually do not put up written judgments in the lower courts).
The KL Bar Information Technology Committee will be organising another forum. Watch this space!
Couple of weeks ago, someone from a marketing company called me...
Girl: Hallo..mr. xes.. I am calling from xx marketing sdn bhd. I would like to conduct a survey.
Me: Sure
Girl: Before we proceed, can I call you to verify your details?
Me: Ok.
Girl: Your name is xes, staying in House Number xxx.. .
Me: err. Yes.
Girl: Can you verify that your identity card number is 8xxxxxxx...?
Me: How did you get the number?
Girl: I don't know. Maybe you gave it to some clubs when you were clubbing.
Me: Ok, I'm not going to verify anything. I'm not comfortable in providing you my personal information.
Girl: eer...okkk...
It's better to be safe than sorry. The amount of fraud that is happening is worrying. It's so easy to get personal information of a person nowadays. But is your personal information protect by the Malaysian law? The Personal Data Protection Bill that was proposed in early 2000 has disappeared into thin air. The "new" Personal Data Protection Act is still not being tabled in the parliament. So in the meantime, if someone misuses your personal information online for their personal gain, do you have a remedy? What can do you do?
Perhaps all these can be answered at the Forum on Identity Theft in the Cyber World. KL Bar Information Technology Committee is organising a Forum on Identity Theft
Date: 20.11.2008
Time: 3.00pm
Venue: Bar Council Auditorium
1st Floor, No 13 - 17, Leboh Pasar Besar, Kuala Lumpur.
Speakers:
1. Deepak Pillai - Advocate & Solicitor
2. Prof. Abu Bakar Munir – Professor in Law from University of Malaya
3. Shamsul Jafni Salleh - former Director of Security, Trust and Governance Department of Malaysian Communication And Multimedia Commission (MCMC)
Admission: FREE
Here are some relevant websites listed down by Richard Wee:
A case on point is the case of Edward Anderton an American Ivy League graduate who was sentenced to a 4 year jail term for stealing identities and living a lavish live at other people's expense, of course. See link:- http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451944,00.html
The Information Technology Law Committee of KL Bar views this problem to be a serious one. The upcoming Forum this Thursday is a platform to discuss this issue. The Forum will host 3 great speakers, and we hope as many people as possible will attend. Entrance is Free.
For registration information, please contact Masni at the KL Bar Secretariat at 03- 26933585 or masni@klbar.org.my
I had only one day to prepare for this talk. With the patent examination and conference, time was not on my side. I only managed to work on the slide in the bus back to KL and few hours before the talk.
Just when I thought I had everything in order, I discovered that I forgot to bring my name cards while on my way to the Bar Council. Fortunately, a colleague took the trouble to pass me my name cards.
The speakers for the Forum were Member of Parliament YB Jeff Ooi, lawyer Nizam Bashir and myself. Richard Wee started off with an introduction on defamation law and the current situation in Malaysia.
Thereafter, Nizam gave a presentation on the laws applicable on blogs e.g. defamation law, sedition and Communications and Multimedia Act. I on the other hand spoke about the liability of a blogger for defamation, a guide to handle defamation action and also a guide on how to reduce the risk of being threatened with a defamation suit. Jeff closed the panel’s speeches by talking about his blog and the steps he had taken to minimalize the risk of commentors posting defamatory comments.
The floor was opened after that. We had a good number of people coming to the mike to ask us questions. It was an extremely good crowd. It wasn’t the typical quiet Malaysian crowd. It was a very responsive crowd. We had bloggers, students, lawyers, journalist and even random members of the public asking us questions.
Julian Hopkins was one of the persons who stood up to ask questions
Some people speculated that the Special Branch will be there to check on the things that we will say. They suspected one chap who is a member of the Special Branch sitting among the crowd. But they soon realised that he’s actually a Bar Council employee.
After the forum ended, journalist rushed to Jeff Ooi to interview him. I took the opportunity to take some pictures!
Since I was young, public speaking has never been my liking. On many occasions, I shy away from speaking in public. Giving a talk to a room of 80 to 100 people was a giant leap for me.
I must say that anyone who has the same problem with me should try to overcome this problem especially when you are a young lawyer and you wish to market yourself.
I've been given an opportunity to write in The Star. I guess I will be writing about this topic in detail.
These 3 weeks have been the busiest week that I’ve gone through this year. It started off with revision for my patent agent qualification examination and thereafter 5 days straight of examination. Immediately after the exam on Friday, I took a bus down to Singapore for the Asian Patents Attorney Association Council meeting. It lasted until Wednesday and immediately thereafter, I gave a talk at the Bar Council at the Forum on Blogging and Defamation Law together with Jeff Ooi and Nizam Bashir.
The patent examination was held at one community centre at Bandar Tun Razak. Everyday I would drive to the area and eat at one of the Chinese restaurants there. The food is nothing to shout about but it kept me filled until lunch time. There was one incident where I sat with a bunch of aunties…
Waitress: (to me) Uncle, what do you want to drink?
Me: Coffee, please.
Aunty: What Uncle???? This one lengjai aaa!!!
Me: (O_O)
The community centre was a little dodgy. At one part it’s an examination hall, the other part is a badminton hall.
The bloody examination made me feel like I’m sitting for the Certificate of Legal Practice again. I thought for the rest of my life, I do not need to sit for anymore exams. Fortunately, this examination is not as tough as the Certificate of Legal Practice. If I fail any of the 5 subjects, I can resit the same subject next year.
The examination papers were fine but I didn’t do well in the Patent Law and Practice examination as they changed the format of the examination.
Last year, we were required to answer 6 questions out of the 8 given questions. This time round, it was 6 questions out of the 6 questions given! We didn’t have a choice!
The question that got me into trouble was actually a past year question. They required us to explain what happen in one of the three given cases. This time round the same question came out minus one case – which I read. Arghh
It was a huge relief after the examination. I immediately sold my book "The Way Things Work" by David Macaulay to ivN, who wanted to present it a lady who likes elephants -_-
It is going to be an extremely hectic week. This week I will be sitting for my patent agent examination, a qualification examination for those who wants to be a patent agent. Immediately after my exams, I have to take a bus down to Singapore to attend the Asian Patents Attorney Association Council meeting. This will last until Wednesday. On the next day, I will be giving a talk at the Forum on Blogging and Defamation, something which I have not prepared at the moment. Streesss aahhh! I guess I'll talk about the time when someone threatened me with legal action and police report.
My patent agent qualification examination started off today with the Technology paper. It's a 3 hours paper which requires me to answer questions like "Explain and Illustrate the operation of a jet engine/air conditioner/toilet tank/ stroke engine etc. I was quite worried a day before the exams - not because of the paper but because of unexpected events such as diarrhea, something that hit when a day before my Certificate of Legal Practice examination 4 years ago.
Although the Technology paper looks quite tough from the outset, it is actually quite easy. In fact, the answers for the questions can be obtained from a book called "The Way Things Work" by David Macaulay. It's a children book.
The book uses a lot of elephants to illustrate the drawings. And the bloody elephant book costs me RM95.
I will be sitting for my exams for the next 4 days. Updates will be scarce.
If you guys are not too busy, please attend this forum to support my friends and our fellow bloggers. =P
The Information Technology Committee of KL Bar is organising a Forum. We will be discussing on Criminal and Civil Defamation/ Sedition Laws, in the blogsphere. Know your rights and limits as a Blogger. Below are the important information:-
Title : Forum on Blogging & Defamation Laws
Date : 23rd October 2008
Day : Thursday
Time : 6 pm to 8.30 pm
Location :Bar Council Auditorium
1st Floor, No 13 - 17, Leboh
Pasar Besar, Kuala Lumpur.
Admission is FREE
Speakers:-
1. Jeff Ooi (Member of Parliament and Blogger)
2. Foong Cheng Leong (Advocate & Solicitor and Blogger)
3. Nizam Bashir (Advocate & Solicitor and Blogger)
One of the problems faced by bloggers is "internet trolls" i.e. a person who posts malicious, annoying, insulting or degrading message anonymously. For many years, this website has been subjected by assaults by internet trolls, for example, crazy woman iloveu .
Unfortunately, the post has been amended and all references on the troll has been removed. The post was removed after the 'troll' publicly apologized. Boohoo.
Perhaps it may be useful to reveal that message posted by internet trolls may give rise to an offence under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Section 233 of the Act provides that:
233. Improper use of network facilities or network service, etc.
(1) A person who-
(a) by means of any network facilities or network service or applications service knowingly-
(ii) initiates the transmission of,
any comment, request, suggestion or other communication which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person; or
(b) initiates a communication using any applications service, whether continuously, repeatedly or otherwise, during which communication may or may not ensue, with or without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any person at any number or electronic address,
commits an offence.
(2) ....
(3) A person who commits an offence under this section shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and shall also be liable to a further fine of one thousand ringgit for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction.
This section of the act has been used before in Malaysia. Opposition party member, Tian Chua was investigated under this section after he posted certain images on his blog.
/me waits for the first Malaysian internet troll to be charged in Court.
Recently, a multinational food company filed a suit against Edward Skading, a senior citizen who blogged about his dissatisfaction over a condensed sweeten milk on his blog, http://consumersrighteousness.blogspot.com/. He alleged that the product that he bought is contaminated and wrote to the multinational company over the alleged contaminated product. After receiving unsatisfactory answers, we decided to post his grievances on his blog.
The multinational company has also filed an application for interlocutory injunction against Uncle Edward. The hearing of the said application is now fixed on 16 October 2008.
It seems that Uncle Edward is going to Court without a lawyer. I'm not sure whether Uncle Edward has filed his Statement of Defence and Affidavit in Reply. However, he has filed his Memorandum of Appearance. There are many rules that a Defendant must follow when going to Court hence to ensure a fair hearing (for both parties), I would highly recommend that Uncle Edward appoint a lawyer.
I have brought this case to the attention of a few lawyers friends. Further, I know that many Malaysian lawyers read this website. I hope that one of our Malaysian lawyers would take up Uncle Edward's case on a pro bono basis. I can't help much due to certain reasons.
Those who are interested in defamation actions in the online world, the KL Bar IT Committee is organising a Forum on Blogging and Defamation and is in the midst of sorting out the details. Members will be notified once the details are finalised. Please check their blog at http://klbar.blogspot.com for updates.
P/S Just in case Uncle Edward needs direction to Shah Alam High Court, here's the map to Shah Alam Court. Stoopid cloud is covering the place.
The Court is located up a hill hence it would be better if you park in the Court's compound. Parking space in the Court's compound is limited and it gets full by 830am (or earlier). Nevertheless, you can park outside the Court's compound and walk to the Court.
Couple of years back, on the first day of my Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP for short, a qualifying professional examination for foreign law graduates), I was down with food poisoning. I eventually failed that paper and had to resit for it. I felt like crap when I got my results. I felt like I've disappointed the whole wide world.
But what can be worst than missing the paper itself. One Ganesh wrote to the Malaysian Bar Council website to highlight his grievances with the road block set up by the police on Monday. Numerous roadblocks were set up by the police after they received 'very real' evidence that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will lead a demonstration at parliament. The roadblocks caused a massive jam.
Here's a reproduction of Ganesh's email.
I refer to Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar's apology with regards to the massive traffic jams caused yesterday.
What Syed Albar does not realise is that, not only were people late in reaching their offices and thus productivity was affected, many people also missed important examinations.
Monday was the first day of the Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) examinations held in University Malaysia (UM). As the examination was 9am, many left much earlier from their houses. As for me, I left 7am from my house located in Subang Jaya. Usually by 7.30am, I would be passing EPF.
However, to my shock and horror, I only reached UM at 10.30am, by that time, it was too late to sit for that particular paper. I was crawling in a standstill jam all the way on the Federal Highway. It was too late for me to turn and use any alternatives as it was a bottleneck jam everywhere and impossible to use any other alternatives.
Many people sitting this examination were either late or just failed to turn up because as one knows, reaching late to the examination hall, one would be barred from entering the hall.
And the CLP examination is such, that if you miss just one paper, you might as well resit the whole examination the next year as you would clearly fail the whole examination having not sat one paper completely.
The shocking thing is that, this is the last year of the examination before it is scrapped for good. So, how is one going to sit for the examination again?
To make matters worse, there were no protest at all. Even if there were protests, we have had many other protests before, and it was all peaceful protests. So why were there virtually every other road being blocked in KL causing a massive gridlock in the whole Klang Valley?
Some were aware of the roadblocks but many were not aware of the roadblocks as the public were not for-warned about the roadblocks much earlier
As Datuk Syed Albar was a previous lawyer, I am sure he understands this predicament of those aspiring to be lawyers. As this is the last CLP examination, many are stuck now, not knowing what to do. Many have sat this examination several times, hoping they would pass this last attempt before it is abolished next year.
I also read that one candidate who was caught in the jam jumped out of her friend’s car, stopped a motorcyclist and begged him to take her to the examination centre where she proceeded to take the examination.
My heart goes to Ganesh and the poor chaps who missed the exams.
In line with the trend, the Kuala Lumpur Bar (Not the bar that serves alcohol but the association of Kuala Lumpur lawyers) has recently set up a blog.
With this website, the public can now see liars lawyers in an informal way and the activities they indulge in. The comments function is currently being disabled as we lawyers know that lawyers tend to make all sorts of stupid statements. I think it would be a bloody war if comments are enabled. Lawyers want to have the last say all the time.
While this blogger and a few other bloggers are going spend few nights in a lavish hotel in Langkawi, another blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) of the well known website, Malaysia-today.net will be lavishing in jail until his trial in October 2008. He refused to post bail.
RPK was today charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 ("SA") at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court over an article which he wrote in his website entitled "Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell". He claimed that the charges are politically motivated.
Section 2 of the SA defines "seditious" as "when applied to or used in respect of any act, speech, words, publication or other thing qualifies the act, speech, words, publication or other thing as one having a seditious tendency"
Seditious tendency is defined in Section 3 of the SA as:
3. Seditious tendency.
(1) A "seditious tendency" is a tendency -
(a) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government;
(b) to excite the subjects of any Ruler or the inhabitants of any territory governed by any Government to attempt to procure in the territory of the Ruler or governed by the Government, the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of any matter as by law established;
(c) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Malaysia or in any State;
(d) to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the subjects of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or of the Ruler of any State or amongst the inhabitants of Malaysia or of any State;
(e) to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia; or
(f) to question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III of the Federal Constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution.
Under Section 4 of SA, any person who:
(a) does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act which has or which would, if done, have a seditious tendency;
(b) utters any seditious words;
(c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication; or
(d) imports any seditious publication,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be, among others, liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit (RM5000) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three (3) years or to both.
In light that the trial is fixed in October 2008, I shall refrain from making any comments on this matter but I wish RPK all the best.
During the old days, advertisements looking for lawyers or chambering student had few details about the law firm. An example would be, "Local law firm seeking for litigation lawyer with 1 - 2 years experience. Call Ms Sek Si at XXXX". With the relaxation of the publicity rules, particulars of the law firm are fully disclosed and it is now possible for lawyers or chambering students in West Malaysia to look for jobs online. One of them would be the Malaysian Bar website.
The Malaysian Bar website has gone through a face lift which resulted in a 5 digits hits a day. Everyday, it updates the public and also members of the Bar of important news and interesting events.
"We are looking for a smart, self motivate, can work as a team, hardworking, nice-looking, pleasant and friendly as conveyancing legal assistant. All races, male or female are welcome to apply."
As harmless as it seems, this description caused an uproar and even placed itself on the Malaysian Bar website, in par with important news such as the Linggam gate!
NYLC takes objection to a job advert
Contributed by Chandrika Bhaskaran (Executive Officer)
Monday, 07 April 2008 12:14pm
KUALA LUMPUR, Mon: The new Chairman of the National Young Lawyers Committee, Roger Tan said he was not too happy with a job advertisement posted by a Kuala Lumpur law firm on the Bar Website seeking for a conveyancing legal assistant who must, among other things, be a "nice-looking" lawyer with 1 or 2 years' experience.
Tan said already some young law graduates find it hard to seek employment in the Klang Valley, what more with the imposition of an irrelevant consideration.
"What do you mean by "nice-looking" especially when beauty and looks lie in the eyes of the beholder?
"I hope law firms will give more regard to the professional qualifications and merits of an applicant rather than such extraneous matters", said Tan.
He added that in future if any firm should impose such an unfair condition, it should not be allowed to advertise anymore on the Bar Website.
Last week at the High Court of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, I attended a matter for a colleague. The case was fixed before a High Court Judge in Chambers (in his room).
At 930am, the Interpreter (Judge's assistant) called the case up.
Me: May it please my Lord, XES for the Plaintiff. With me, my learned friend, Mr Sinka Linggam for the Defendant.
S.K Linggam: Correct, correct, correct my Lord.
Me: Today is fixed for hearing of Enclosure 18, the Defendant's application to strike out the Plaintiffs claim...
*t000t* *t000t* *t000t*
S.K Linggam: Ohhhh..shitt...my phone is ringing...
Timothy Tiah had to give a speech to 500 people last week. I bet he was stressed before the session cause I was damn stressed when I had to give a speech to a group of 40 students. pfft.
Last week, I was assigned to give a speech about my life as an Intellectual Property lawyer in front of a bunch of students from local universities. Some senior lawyers presented with me as well. Since I was the most junior of all, I was quite stressed out. My heart went dupdupdupdupdudpdupdup whenever I think about it. I've never been a good public speaker and as long as I can remember, I’ve not given a speech before.
But after 2 days of intensive training, I was prepared for it.
I prepare myself by going through couple of rehearsals.
I made sure everything that I was to say was listed on a piece of paper.
I was ready to present my first speech.
So on the faithful day, the room was filled with aspiring young lawyers-to-be students, each of them eager to know about our field of practice. The senior lawyers were the first to give their speech.
While listening to them… a song started playing on my head,
it was the Will.i.am ft. Snoop dogg - Donque Song.....
She got a donkeeeeyy.. She got a donkeeeeyy … She got a donkeeeeyy…I got a donnkeeey..i got a donkeeeyyy..the donk the donkkk.. she got some mega asss
and the images of donkey grooving in a club started playing on my mind.
[I later found out that the lyrics of the song is “She got a donque..”. The word “dongue” is a slang for ass. I heard the song from the radio]
Imagine a room with a group of young students aspiring to be lawyers listening to a group of 4 lawyers talking about serious work and 1 of them had a song about donkey on his head.
So when it came to my turn, the donkeys disappeared. I introduced myself accordingly and went on blabbing. The little note that I had was actually quite distracting. I had to pause to look for the right keywords and left an awkward silence. Note to self, memorise every damn bit and less words on my little note.
Anyway, I think my speech went well although I went like a speeding bullet. Nevertheless, it was a good experience. Cant wait to do somemore!
Despite being informed that the government had set up an independent commission to probe the controversial video clip allegedly showing a senior lawyer talking to a senior judge about appointments of judges and into the state of the Judiciary in general, the Bar Council decided to proceed with the march. In this march, the Bar Council will gather at the Palace of Justice and walk towards the Prime Ministers Office to present 2 memorandums namely to call for the establishment of a royal commission of inquiry to probe the controversial video and also a judicial appointments commission for the appointment and promotion of judges.
My colleagues and I arrived at the Palace of Justice at around 1030AM after taking a huge detour from our normal route. The police have blocked some of the entrances to Putrajaya forcing us to take a longer route. The 7 buses that were chartered by the Bar Council to ferry members of the Bar to the Palace of Justice were denied entry to Putrajaya. This resulted in a 5KM walk by the bus passengers from the entrance to the Palace of Justice. Some of the members of the Bar took their vehicles to pick up these people. But all this was not in vain, as soon as the passengers arrived at the Palace of Justice, the crowd greeted them with a thunderous applause.
It was estimated that around 2000 people were present. Other than fellow lawyers, politicians from the opposition and bloggers such as JeffOoi, Rockybru, Raja Petra Kamarudin and politikus were present.
Thank you for the birthday wishes. I haven't had the time to reply to everyone's comments. My sincere apology.
As some of you may know, the Bar Council has organised a gathering at the Palace of Justice (I just realised that the Court canceled the word "Palace of Justice" and replaced it with "Istana Kehakiman") on 26.9.2007. The purpose of the gathering is to present a memorandum to the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister calling for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into a video clip allegedly showing a senior lawyer talking to a senior judge about appointments of judges and into the state of the Judiciary in general.
The said video clip can be seen below - courtesy of Malaysiakini.com
The government controlled local dailies have taken the position not to reveal the names of senior lawyer and judge. I too will not name the senior lawyer and judge but I am sure everyone would know by reading the links below.
Members will gather at the entrance to the Palace of Justice, Putrajaya at 10.30am on 26.9.2007 then walk from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's Office to hand over the memorandum.
The Bar Council's aim is to gather at least 1000 lawyers. However, I foresee that the amount would exceed 1000. Further, other parties like members of the opposition parties and non governmental organisation will join the peaceful walk.
The Bar Council has arranged for 7 buses to ferry members to the Palace of Justice tomorrow morning. Please note that the buses are for members of the Bar Council and not for the public.
I too will join the walk with my fellow colleagues despite going against my personal belief on the justification of this walk. I am a member of the Bar Council and if the Bar Council calls upon their members to support, I will no doubt lend my hand to support them.
I received this via email the other day, and was wondering whether it is true. Please enlighten us. I'm sure we'd all want to know!
Something for us to know.....
I was talking with a lawyer friend of mine. We were discussing the law and women`s rights. She told me about this incident - a young girl was raped by a man posing as a plain clothes officer ; he asked her to come to the police station when she and her male friend didn't have a driver`s license to show. He sent the boy off to get his license and asked the girl to accompany him to the police station. Took her instead to an isolated area where the horrendous crime was committed.
In fact, the law clearly states that between 6 pm and 6am , a woman has the right to REFUSE to go to the Police Station, even if an arrest warrant has been issued against her. It is a procedural issue that a woman can be arrested between 6pm and 6 am, ONLY if she is arrested by a woman officer and taken to an ALL WOMEN police station. And if she is arrested by a male officer, it has to be proven that a woman officer was on duty at the time of arrest.
It is good for us to know our rights. To what extent it comes of use remains to be seen in any situation. But as they say, knowledge is power.
Just thought I`d share this with you.
How? Can I drive off from a road block and refuse to go to the police station and then have them chase me home and arrest me and I'll be forced to do nude squatting (and someone will record it on his mobile phone and it'll be all over the internet)?
Before one can qualify as a lawyer in Malaysia, he or she has to undergo pupillage of 9 months under a lawyer. Being called to the Bar would be the ultimate aim of a pupil.
Being called to the Bar is one of the biggest events of a lawyer’s life. It’s so big until one day remember it so well as if it were their birth date. Even lawyers who had been in practice for more than 20 years could remember the day they were called to the Bar. In this event, the pupil will appear before a Judge in open court to conduct certain formalities and friends and relatives will be in Court to celebrate the joyous moment.
Upon being called to the Bar, the pupil will be a qualified lawyer. It also marks the day where the pupil will no longer be in the bottom of the food chain and probably obtain a 100% increase in their salary (pupils in Malaysia earns around RM300 – RM1800 per month). It’s every pupil’s wish to be called to the Bar.
So, my colleague K is due to be called to the Bar tomorrow morning. After 4 years of hardship and 9 months being in the bottom of the food chain, he could finally see the light.
When I saw him in the evening, he screamed, “I’M GETTING CALLED TOMORROW!”
An hour later,
K: Dude, did you see the email from KL Bar just now?
Me: OH YEAH.
K: THEY’RE GOING TO POSTPONE MY LONG CALL OVER THE REHEARSAL!! A DAY BEFORE I GET CALLED! WTF!!!!!! \(*O*)/!
In the legal profession, we have this practice of having other lawyers to attend our matters in Court. Sometimes for complicated cases but most of the time for simple matters like getting an adjournment. As for the latter, the reasons are usually because the lawyer in charge has another matter in another Court or has to attend a meeting with clients. And when this kind of cases aroused, we would usually get the file and documents a day before the matter.
But today, my colleague ("C") called me to help him attend one matter at the KL High Court. For the first time, I received the weirdest excuse ever.
C: are you going to Court tomorrow?
Me: No. Why?
C: Please help me attend one matter at KL High Court.
Me: Tiuu (pissed off) why so last minute??? How are you going to pass me the file?
C: Just go without the file la.
Me: mahai! you want me to get scolded by the Judge is it?? Go without the file?? Why cant you go your self?
C: (sniffing) My dog just collapsed and died today.
Me: ooohh....
You see, C is one person who loves his dogs. He treats them like his children. He was at the verge of crying over the phone.
Me: Okok. I'll go for your matter tomorrow.
I wonder what I should tell the Judge tomorrow.
[Edit
I went to Court for the above mentioned matter today. C gave me the wrong information about the matter O_O and I ended up in another Court and waited half an hour for a non existent matter.
After double checking with C, I discovered that it's listed in another Court.
Recently, it was reported that some sort of scam has been hitting residents of the Klang Valley. This has caused a stir in the legal fratinity.
It started off with the following email.
Dear family members and friends
I am writing this e-mail to warn all of you. This is what happen to me on 18th may 2007 at 10.00am. The phone rang and i answer, a voice message stated that the call is from the Malaysian High Court mentioning that i have a case to attend at the KL High Court. Rather curious of what sort of case i have, so i press 9 to talk to the operator.
The operator speaks very 'slow english' if you know what i mean. She insist that i must give her my name and ic no. in order for her to check what sort of case i have. I hold on for a few seconds and she ask me if that is really my ic no. I confirmed and she also confirmed that i have a case to attend. She says that she will faxed the doucument over to Bukit Aman Police station and the officer will call me in 3 munites.
So i hung up, through enough i received the call less than 2 minutes. He announced himself as Yeoh Long Wah from Bukit Aman police station. He ask me a lot of questions and say the criminal have use my ic detail to open bank account in Maybank and Public Bank in Negeri Sembilan.
He then ask me whether i have a bank account in Maybank and Public Bank. I told him that i have a Public Bank a/c. He says that i have to answer his questions honestly so that he can help me with my case. The questions he ask like have you lost yr ic before, did you hand over yr ic to anybody for documentaion and how much money u have in yr a/c
I told him i cannot reveal the amount in my account and that i will meet him in Bukit Aman police station. He says fine and meet him before 4pm and gave me the phone no 03-77826222.
I rang my lawyer and ask for advise. She ask me to fix the appointment with the so call police on Sat or Monday since today is Friday and mosque day. I called the the no 77826222 and the police answer telling me that this is not Bukit Aman police station but police station in Old Klang Road. I told the police the problem and he told me to launch a police report in Subang Jaya police station because they have been receiving a lot of these calls from people.
I went to Public Bank to freeze all my a/c for the time being. I am sharing all these with you so that you will not go through the trauma i went through
From
Kam Yuen Chan
18/5/07
Subsequently, members of the Malaysian lawyers google group, The Rostrum reported that few of their clients were victim of this scam.
One of the members, Mr Leong Yeng Kit gave a great insight on this matter:
Edward,
Several of my clients received these calls and some unfortunately divulged their personal information. Now, there are several ways these fraudsters can use your personal information, it mainly revolves around identity theft. If they only have your name and NRIC No., they can use it to apply for credit cards / credit facilities and you end up with the bill. I’ve advised another client to lodge police reports on fraudulent cards which they have not applied for, with lots of credit racked up. When we sighted the NRIC used for the registration of the card, the NRIC showed the proper name, ic no and address of the customer, but the picture of the IC was totally different. Syndicates have long used specialized machines to produce NRICs better (and faster) than our own NRD can. Smart chip? Not a problem.
Second scenario - Private Investigators in this country also have the ability to conduct “covert searches” on any person’s bank account and asset profile. They usually have sources in banks and EPF, Bank Negara, Socso, telcos etc who would only be too happy to release such information for a fee – all they need is an NRIC number. This information, coupled with the ability to create identity cards – they can virtually clear out the accounts from any person.
The types of fraud goes on and on, and I’ve seen so many that my confidence in the system is shattered.
I deal with fraud matters a lot for banking and utility institutional clients, trying to improve their internal systems to help prevent these types of fraud. Whilst I can say that throwing money at the problem in acquiring and deploying better Fraud Management Systems helps, it is really not/hardly foolproof. And any fool can actually pull off such identity theft – all you need is the will.
Hope I have been of assistance to you and your clients. Just take all necessary precautions to protect your assets and your identity. That’s the best you can do and pray it works.
The Young Lawyers Committee ("YLC") approached me to promote their upcoming event, which is the KL Bar Idol.
Come join us fellow lawyers for the Charity Nite 2007, 8pm on 29 June 2007 at Maison, just off Asian Heritage Row.
The feature event for that night, the KL Bar Idol Finals! The Finalist which raises the most money for charity will be crowned KL Bar Idol 2007.
In an unprecedented move, Charity Nite will also be held simultaneously in 4 cities: Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. This has already been featured in The Star newspaper (http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/content/view/9107/2/).
The finalists of the KL Bar Idol 2007 are
(1) Nur Hidayah of Zaid Ibrahim & Co
(2) Chryshantini Niles of Shook Lin & Bok
(3) Suhaizah binti Zakaria of Raja Darryl & Loh
(4) Ruth Garnet Maran of Skrine
[Photo taken from: http://klbar.org.my/]
At the KL Bar Idol Finals, the finalists can choose to be accompanied by the band on that night, use their own minus-one backing track, or their own instruments. The winner of the KL Bar Idol Singing Competition 2007 will be decided by the audience that night. The audience will vote by donating or pledging sums of money for their favourite finalist. The finalist with the highest amount of money raised will be crowned the KL Bar Idol. All monies raised will be donated to the charitable organisation adopted for this year’s Charity Nite 2007.
I look forward to this at KL Bar Idol night!
If any :P
Non lawyers may attend this event.
Tickets are priced at RM30, for 2 free drinks and finger food, and all proceeds go to YLC;s adopted charities. Ticket available from the KL Bar Secretariat. For ticket enquiries, please contact Lee Shih @ http://shih.blogspot.com/
The Kuala Lumpur Courts were taken aback by a piece of shocking news today. Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Said Ahmad passed away yesterday after succumbing to a heart attack during a game of badminton in Shah Alam Club.
Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad houses the Kuala Lumpur High Court Commercial Division
His death is a great loss to the Malaysian judiciary, as his Lordship was well known for his warmness and courtesy. He was the first judge that I appeared before when I started Chambering. My experience with him was pleasant as he gave judgement to our favour. It was also delightful as we managed to bulldoze the opponent’s case within minutes.
Unfortunately, that was the only time that I appeared before him. I didn’t have the opportunity to see him again there after. When the news broke out in the newspaper and also by word of mouth, the hot topic among the lawyers was his Lordship’s death. Many that I’ve met had many praises for him.
Coincidentally, there were 2 judges with similar names in Kuala Lumpur High Court. Some people wondered which of the judge has passed on. Since I was in Court today, I decided to pay his Court at D8 a visit. On his notice board, there was a notice saying that his Lordship has passed away yesterday and all cases before him are to be postponed.
Around February 2007, the Courts at Wisma Denmark and Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur will be moving to a new court complex at Jalan Duta. It is claimed that the new RM290mil complex is the biggest in the world with , 77 courtrooms consisting of the Magistrate’s courts (26 courtrooms), Sessions Courts (21 courtrooms) and the High Court, including the Family Court (30 courtrooms).
By end of this year, lawyers will bid Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad farewell.
For the past 4 weeks, I haven’t had time to do anything else than working. I am currently involved in one full blown litigation case.
My department have been churning out letters, bundles and affidavits like a biscuit factory. We’ve been chasing deadlines like mad, working till 10PM to 1AM daily, 7 days a week. Fighting a full blown litigation case with tight deadline is no easy task, it’s almost impossible to handle one case without any form of assistance from anyone.
My case was fixed for hearing few days back. We had to work past earthly hours for it.
On the eve of the hearing of my case, my secretary tendered her resignation. GIVING 1 WEEK NOTICE. In her resignation letter, she said that she has just been offered a position in the government sector. In addition to that, she said she'll stay on until 20th November 2006 to sort things out. However, on the next day, I found a young Malay girl sitting on my secretary's desk. The girl said she's my temporary secretary.
Me: Where is my secretary?
Girl: I dont know, No one came this morning. I am your temporary secretary.
Me: How temporary is temporary?
Girl: Umm..1 month.
Me: O_O
Girl: I have no experience.
Me: /(*O*)\
I dont have the time to teach her!
Since I had to work late to prepare for the case the following day. I text my Dad saying, “I skip dinner. Big case tomorrow”.
He replied with, “I skip dinner”.
I felt quite puzzled. Wondering why is he telling me that he’s skipping dinner when I already told him that I will be skipping dinner.
Hours later,. my boss said, “CL, Why did you message me telling me that you’re skipping dinner and you have a big case tomorrow?”
Since my offence is compoundable, I can head to the police station at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee (I'm not sure whether if one can pay their summons at their nearest police station). I dont really like heading to the police station at Jalan Tun H.S. Lee as it is troublesome.
However, with the advent of internet technology, we can pay our summons online using our online bank account!
One of the websites that we may use is http://www.rilek.com.my/. It's quite user friendly and the procedure to do so is simple.
After registering as a user, login into the main menu and click on 'Polis Diraja Malaysia' and click on its submenu.
First of all, I must thank the person who came up with the concept of fasting. Now thanks to the fasting month, the traffic back home is SMOOOOOOTTTHHHH. This is because our Muslim friends get to leave early. My Muslim colleagues leave at 5PM.
Think about it, more than half of the Malaysian population are Muslims. After 5PM, half of Malaysia is not working!
I work in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, where traffic jams usually start at 730AM in the morning. Every morning I try to wake up at 6AM so that I could beat the jam. But most of the time, I would still end up stuck in a jam as I rolled on the bed for too long. O_O
Other than bottlenecks, I think one of the main causes of traffic jam is the traffic police. Sometimes I wonder do they really know what are they doing?? They sometime would let one particular route to flow and stop other routes causing a massive backlog.
When ever this happens, I would wind up my window, turn on the radio and scream, “CHAU CHEE BYE!!!! PUUHHH KI MAAAAKK!! YOU KNOW WHAT THE F*** YOU’RE DOING”. This happens especially when the traffic light has turned green and yet the police refuse to let us move.
Sometimes I get so mad that I feel like disobeying the traffic police’s order. Of course, I wouldn’t do this until I do a research on whether I could use this argument.
After a brief research, it seems that I could not disobey the police's order. This is because under Section 79(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 (“RTA”) where it states that where a police officer ....., is for the time being engaged in regulating traffic on a road, notwithstanding that any traffic sign has been lawfully placed on or near that road, any person driving ... who fails or neglects to stop the vehicle ..., shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit (RM500).
Looks like the only alternative I have now is to scream profanities in the car. Cheebye!!
Recently, the local media has reported that the High Court of Malaya has ordered McCurry Restaurant (KL) Sdn Bhd to immediately stop using the prefix "Mc" in its business name.
The 24-hour open-air restaurant serves spicy fish-head curries, tandoori chicken and other Indian delicacies on a street corner in the capital, under a large "McCurry" sign.
The Honourable Justice Siti Mariah Ahmad also ordered that damages to be paid to McDonald’s Corporation to be assessed.
Yang Arif (Malay term for The Honourable), in the verbal judgement (I cant wait for the written judgement to be published!) ruled that “Mc” was distinctive of McDonald’s either singularly or used in conjunction with items of food and it could therefore claim goodwill and reputation in its business in reference to the prefix. Yang Arif further held that "The defendant's use of the word McCurry and employing signage featuring colours distinctive of the plaintiff's was indulging in acts that could rise to confusion and deception”.
Yang Arif held that the acts of the defendant were a deliberate attempt to get an unfair advantage to the detriment of the plaintiff and as a consequence of McCurry’s usage of the word “Mc”, “The plaintiff had suffered damage to their goodwill and reputation and an erosion to the singularity that they had enjoyed vis-a-vis the “Mc” trademark.
In McCurry defence, it was stated that it was not aware that McDonald’s was the proprietor and operator of the world-renowned chain of restaurants and that "McCurry" was just an abbreviation for "Malaysian Chicken Curry".
This case was heavily publicized in many countries such as the United Kingdom, China and Japan. This case clearly serves as a warning to everyone on the risk of using any signs, marks and even colour schemes that are closely connected to McDonald.
To me, the case was decided fairly although it creates an impression that any traders using the word “Mc” would get into trouble. Also, as some may know, McCurry is an ancient Scottish surname.
In this case, in my humble opinion, if McCurry had the word “McCurry” in a different stylized mark and adopted another colour scheme, McDonalds would not have a strong case.
When choosing a company name or a trade mark or even a get-up (e.g. packaging), it is always best to create something distinctive. The ultimate aim of a trade mark or get up is to distinguish your goods or services from other traders.
Using common elements that are connected or associated to the specification of goods and/or services on your mark would create many problems as these elements are widely used by others. For example, using the mark “The Cake” on your bakery products. You may not be able to stop others from using the words “The Cake”.
Further, if you use a mark or name which is identical or confusingly similar with another trade mark, be prepared to receive a letter from a lawyer and thereafter be embroiled in an expensive legal battle.
Last week, I was stopped by the police for beating the red light.
Policeman: You tau apa salah? (Do you know what offence you have committed?)
Me: You beritahu saya (You tell me) (so that I do not incriminate myself)
After producing my license and identity card, he scribbled many things on to his notepad. On his right chest, there was a white “Saya Anti Rasuah” (meaning that they are against bribing) badge.
Just as I was waiting for the 'magic words', the policeman said , “Saman?” (Asking me whether to issue me a summon).
I answered, “OK”.
Minutes later, I was given a 'Saman' and after perusing the 'saman', I found that I have given a notice to appear in court to answer the charges against me. WTF!! I have to appear in court because I beat the red light??
It’s not the first time I’ve been issued a ‘saman’ for traffic offences but this is the first time I actually took time to peruse the details. The policeman has fixed a date in October 2006 for me to appear before a Magistrate at the Raja Laut Court.
To me, I wouldn’t mind appearing before the Magistrate and also it would be a good opportunity to experience first hand as a Defendant. Further, I have already made preparations on the things that I want to say to the Judge to reduce my fine e.g. I was not speeding that time and I have no previous serious traffic offences blabla.
However, it is always best to settle this matter by compounding the offence (to pay the fine). Unfortunately, the Notice I received did not mention which law I had broken. I had to do a research on it.
My research was quite fruitful. I discoverd that the 'saman' that the policeman issued was a standard notice.
The traffic offence that I committed was under Section 79(2) of the Road Transport Act 1987 (“RTA”) where it states that any person who fails or neglect to conform to the indication given by a sign (in this case beating the red light) shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit. (RM500!!)
Also, my further research reveals that Section 79(2) RTA is a compoundable offence under the Road Transport (Compounding of Offences) Rules 2003. Phew, that means I could just head to Jalan H.S. Lee’s police station to settle my ‘saman’.
While doing my research, I found that any person who, when driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle or when in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place, has so much alcohol in his body that the proportion of it in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit, shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with a fine of not less than one thousand ringgit and not more than six thousand ringgit and shall also be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, a fine of not less than two thousand ringgit and not more than ten thousand ringgit and shall also be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Due to the upcoming Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill 2006 which was drafted without the consultation of the members of the Malaysian Bar Council, Yang Mulia Raja Aziz Addruse and seconded by Datuk Param Cumaraswamy tabled a motion which called for the council to request the authorities to hold the amendments except for 2 and also set up an ad hoc committee to carry out dept studies on the amendments within 6 weeks and thereafter recommend to the relevant authorities.
The amendments by the Legal Profession Act 1976 (Amendment) Bill 2006 was heavily opposed by many lawyers and debates were going on (especially online) for weeks before Saturday's EGM. For the past weeks, articles and comments were published and distributed among lawyers. Reading the Bill alone is quite confusing as one had to cross refer to the original Act. As such, I based my views on comments and articles posted on the net.
Due to articles and comments, I supported the motion simply because the members of the bar were not consulted over the said amendments and also that (innocent) partners of a partnership are liable for the wrong doings of their partners (note: there are other issues as well). The latter is obviously unfair. It’s like having a wife being chased by loan sharks after her husband defaulted on the loan.
I was told that the members of the Bar were not consulted simply because the process does not require the authorities to do so.
In order for the EGM to proceed, we needed at least a 2500 quorum. The issue of quorum has always been a concern to the members of the bar as without a full quorum, no EGM will be valid. I was told that lawyers all around Malaysia attended the EGM. Even the Penang Bar organised busses to KL!
At 2:20PM, the speaker announced that we have reached our quorum. The crowd exploded in a cheer. I was told that quorum was a record of 3265 lawyers!
The event was organised at Lee San Choon Hall in Wisma MCA with lawyers filling almost every seat. The EGM was chaired by our President. Every person was given an opportunity to speak by heading to one of the mikes around.
The latest hoohaa on our Malaysian law is the MyKad (Identity Card) law. Under the National Registration Regulations 1990, a person who has been issued an identity card must at all times carry on his person the identity card or otherwise face imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a minimum fine of RM3000 and a maximum fine of RM20,000. Unknown to many people, this law has been around for ages.
Forgetting your MyKad is a very serious offence. During my short stint as a volunteer at the Criminal Magistrate Court, I had to mitigate for a young (18 years old) boy who forgot to bring his identity card. He was arrested after he failed to produce his identity card.
Despite my plea to the court to release the boy on a good behavior bond without sureties and without recorded conviction due to the triviality of the matter and also because he is a young first offender, the Learned Magistrate imprisoned the boy for 2 months. This is not the only incident. There were many other cases as well.
There are other trivial things we see everyday that amount to an offence. For example under Minor Offences Act:-
S27. Beggars
(c) every person begging in a public place, or in a place to which the public are admitted without payment or on payment, or using in any such place conduct calculated to induce the giving of alms (whether or not there is any pretence of singing, playing, performing, offering anything for sale or otherwise), and having or able to have other
lawful means of livelihood;
shall be deemed to be an idle and disorderly person and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both.
25A. Wearing, possessing or manufacturing of camouflage uniform.
(1) Any person, not being a member of the armed forces of Malaysia or of a visiting force, who wears any camouflage uniform or any part thereof or anything resembling a camouflage uniform or has in his
possession, custody or control any camouflage cloth or camouflage uniform or any part thereof or anything resembling any camouflage cloth shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction
to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.
6. Dog running at persons, etc.
If it is proved to the satisfaction of a magistrate that any dog is in the habit of running at persons or at vehicles, horses, cattle, sheep, goats or pigs passing along a public road, the owner of such dog shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ringgit.
Let me know if you can't understand the sections that I posted :P
Robes are usually worn when appearing before High Court Judges and above.
Further, r30 of the Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules provides that:-
(c) Except on such ceremonial occasions and at such places as the Bar Council or the Courts may prescribe, an advocate and solicitor shall not wear bands or robes in public places other than in Court or whilst travelling to or from Court.
Therefore, lawyers can't wear robes to go clubbing, fengtau and/or to the mamak.
One of the most popular places to get robes is Campbell Complex, Jalan Dang Wangi.
My childhood ambition has been fulfilled. After years of support, guidance and encouragement from my parents, I am finally called to the Malaysian Bar. Hence now, I am a fully fledged Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.
There were some minor obstacles prior to my call. The judge who was supposed to hear my petition was on MC. I was only told of it yesterday.
I received the shocking phone call yesterday afternoon. It was a lady from the Court and she said, “Encik xes, long call awak akan dibatalkan esok…” (your long call will be cancelled tomorrow)
I freaked out! But..
“tapi akan dibawa kepada 230 petang pada hari yang sama”. (but will be brought forward to 230PM on the same day)
Finally, i got what he wanted. On Wednesday morning, he came over to the office to collect his Certificate of Probate...
Mr.S: Eh, Frank. How come you never pick up my call?
me: Got ar...
Mr.S: I mean your mobile phone lar.
me: ooooh...i change number already.
Mr.S: WTF lar, i was thinking why my lawyer never pick up my call. (Note: I am not a lawyer yet. The client always think that i am one because they don't understand what is a pupil in chamber despite numerous explainations)
me: hahahhha...
Mr.S: Give me your new number.
I reluctantly gave him my new number because my boss was looking at me.
After sorting out the documentations...
me: OKIES, everything is good already. Remember to bring two of your executors to the Bank, you can't get the money without them.
Mr.S: Ya Ya YA your boss, told me many times already.
You had been told about this SOOOO many times but still asking me every now and then.
me: When you get the money, you must belanja me yam cha lar.
Mr.S: Can ar. Tonight you free or not? We go Uptown yam cha lar.
me: Uptown got nice mamak meh?
Mr.S: Ya!!! The girls there damn chun (pretty) and their voices so SWEEET.
WTF!!! Papaya Farm!!!
me: WAH....REALLY!!! Shit, tonight i got appointment already.
I told a lie....*sob* *sob*
Later in the afternoon, My master asked...
Master: Eh, I heard Mr.S ask you to go Papaya Farm
me: Ya, but i don't want to go with uncles.
Suddenly the PA interrupted...
PA: Damn stupid lar, you. The GRO don't layan young man like you lar, you must go with uncles!!!
One of the privileges of working in a big or established firm in Kuala Lumpur is that you get to attend the KL Bar Annual Dinner for free. This year around, our firm has once again sponsored us tickets to attend it.
It was held at J.W. Marriot, one of the posh places in town. This year’s theme is International Costume. I didn’t wear any though, all I had was my usual tshirts and slacks and jacket. However, a number of people dressed up in all sorts of costumes. Lee Shih wore a matador’s costume. Some girls were in cheongsam, saris and even kimonos.
We had free flow of beer again this year. AT, A friend of mine was already lobster red when I saw him. Another friend of mine came up to me and pointed at AT, “You see this Chinaman, after few drinks, they’ll turn red”. I couldn’t help but to laugh.
Another 2 of my former Sheffield Uni classmates came as well, Alan Teo and J.
When I first saw J, I screamed, “ooiiii…big ass J!!!”.
J: O_O!!!! FUCKER!! WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!?! *proceeds to punch*
Me: *ow*
It’s been a while since I saw J, it was great catching up with her!
Few hours later, AT, a colleague of Janet, came over to me and said, “Eh? What did you call J just now? Now all her colleagues are calling her by that name!”.
Mr. Harith Iskandar. - "you want some of these?"
Malaysian Comedian Mr. Harith Iskandar was invited to do a stand up comedy. Initially we were expecting him to recycle his jokes which we always see on TV or previous dinners. However, this year round, his jokes are new. He made me realise that we Malaysians, have blatant disregard to our rules.
He also made fun of Australian’s carefree attitude. Many years ago, he had 2 hugeeeeee fatttt Australian girls over for holidays. It was many years ago hence bus was the only source of transport. So the girls, being carefree Australians, walked out with shorts and singlet…and without bra. Imagine 2 hugeeeee Australian girls in singlet and shorts and without bra. So they proceeded to board a bus.
Malay boys in the bus: *O* *stares in disbelieve*
One of the Australian girls noticed that they boys were staring at their tits. She stopped, grabbed her own tits and said to the Malay boys, “You want some of these???”.
Finalist for the costume competition
Lee Shih won the best costume competition! He and Ashraf were on a tie but Lee Shihbeing a friendly and jolly chap, won based on clap-o-meter, whoever gets the loudest cheer will win. While Lee Shih's colleagues cheered for him, YS, Low and I stood up to cheer for him as well. He won a 3 days 2 nights stay in Bali!
This year’s lucky draw prizes are much better. Unfortunately, I didn’t win any of those.
A friend of mine ran up to the stage when he heard his number being called. Right after he passed his ticket to the MC, the MC said, “this guy had too much to drink.. this is not your number!”. My friend walked down from the stage, deeply embarrassed. Damn.
David won the best prize of all, he got a RM3000 travel voucher to anywhere in the world!! But after they announced RM3000 travel voucher to anywhere in the world, the first thing on my mind was a free trip to Japan! and also out of no where…“mmmm….travel to Genting Highlands 30 times!”. Wtf..
A guy won a bottle of Black Label and a bottle of Whisky plus 2 imported fine glasses on the lucky draw. He ran up to the stage and celebrated with his mates with his newly gained prizes. But few seconds later, the MC announced, “I’m sorry there seems to be a mistake. The prize is not of Black Label and a bottle of Whisky. Please come up to return the prize”.
It’s amazing how one’s luck would change within a split second. However, he was sporting enough to come up to stage to return the prize. The MC then announced, “You actually won a blender”. Doh!
Alan Teo, Lai Chee & I
Janet & I!
Sue Yin & I
The night ended right exactly @ 12am. It was a good night. Congrats to the organizing commitee for their excellent job!
Previously i wrote about Mr. S who was such a painful asshole. I managed to extract his Probate Cert speedily and get him off my back. Hopefully, he will pay our bill as soon as possible so i can close that file.
Today, i had the privilege of dealing with Mr. C, another difficult client. Mr C is 10 times worst than Mr. S. Actually Mr. C is not exactly our client to start with, his boss is the one who pay our bill. Mr.C is his boss's golden boy whom his boss entrusted to oversee this matter and to work with us. Mr.C has this impression that since his boss is paying our fee then we are his slave and he can treat us like one. Every so often, he criticised our work and give very insulting remarks. One time in meeting, he told my senior and me that...
"Actually, i am no difference from you lawyers. I can do your job also if i wear a white shirt and black pants."
Another time after discussion he said that...
"Well if you are a beautiful woman, i would stay a bit longer to talk cock with you. hahahhaha..talk cock."
Stupid joke, nobody laughed except him. His attitude problem has gotten the best of my master whom is well known of his cool and tolerence way of working. My master blew his top and told Mr.C to fuck off. Hence, the file fall upon my senior and my lap.
He once asked for my mobile phone number...
C: "eh, Give me your mobile phone lar."
me: "hahhaha, sorry that is against our office policy."
C: "But just now i call you, you are not in."
Of cause lar you stupid idiot, i just finish meeting with the Official Receiver (Official Reciever is a government officer who takes over the Insolvent Company). Be sensible a bit to call me 45 or an hour after the meeting.
me: "Can one, i am always in the office this week."
C: " So i take it as a No"
me: " hahahhaha..."
C: "No need to be scare one lar. It's not like i am interested in you."
me: "Office Policy lar but you have my boss's number mah. You can call him if there is anything."
One of the beauty of being in practice is the different people you will meet. You will be amazed, how dumb and helpless a person will become when he/she is desperate.
I had this client, S. S has my mobile phone number. Yeah, thanks to my clerk who don't really understand my "Don't give my phone number to the client" policy. S's wife had just passed away so he wanted us to extract a Probate Certificate from the Court. It's a simple lar...real simple one. All i need to do is make sure that all the Cause papers are in order and i would be able to get the Grant of Probate. The day before the hearing, S wanted to know what would happen during the trial. So i brief him...
"Mr. S very simple only. I will tell the Registrar that all our papers are in order and we will get the Grant of Probate."
Sound simple right. IT'S DAMN SIMPLE LAR! GOD DAMN IT! Apparently, S was still very worry. He was worried that i could not wake up for the hearing. He sms-ed me at 7pm.
"Frank, Remember my Probate hearing tommorow morninig. Thanks"
He was worried that i didn't leave my house early and hence stuck in the jam. He sms-ed me at 8am
"Frank, are you in Shah Alam Court yet?"
8am lar! The hearing don't start until 9am.
Fine enough. I appreciate his kind reminders. As usual, i arrived and parked my car in Shah Alam Court at 8.30am. He said that he would be there around that time as well. I waited and waited...no sign of Mr. S and his two Petitioners.
At 9.30am, i called him...
"Mr.S, where are you?"
"I am stuck in the jam lar?."
So much for all the reminders to me, Mr. S?
Finally he came at 9:45am and we got the Probate.
Then after, the nightmare starts...he would sms me every two or three days to ask me to extract the Certificate from the Court. Comon man, i am only human and the Court don't work for him. I tried my best.
Later on, i changed my number. Mr. S could no longer sms me anymore. Instead he CALL my office...
"Why everytime i call you, you always tell me that you are chasing the Court for my Cert but no News one?"
"I am really chasing them hard."
"Yeah but not good enough. You kept telling me the same thing everytime i call you."
Bugger that is the truth, wah. What do you want?
Then he went on to give me stupid one liner...
" Serionsly Frank. If i am a rapist, i would like my case to be delayed as long as the year of 2020. But I AM NOT."
Sorry Mr.S, i didn't graduate from Hogwart, School of Wizardary and Witchcraft. I cannot jinx the Court staff when they refuse to work fast.
I work in the Intellectual Property Department in one of the Law firms in Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, I will not reveal my firm's name here due to the fact I wish to remain anonymous (though posting my own photos doesnt help!). Frank and I are worried that one day we'll get into trouble for things we posted here :D
Anyway, a basic Intellectual Property FAQ.
Have you ever wondered why some trademarks have the sign ™ and some on ®?
The use of the ™ symbol next to a trademark, usually in the top right-hand corner, means that the trademark owner claims certain exclusive rights in relation to that trademark. Although this symbol only denotes that the owner holds unregistered trade mark rights, such rights can be enforced by way of an action for passing off.
The ® symbol is used to denote that a trademark has been registered with the government trade marks office or registry of a particular country or jurisdiction. Upon registration a trademark can be enforced by way of an action for infringement.
For example..
HSBC is a registered trade mark hence they can sue anyone who infringes (i.e. uses a mark which is identical or resembling as it is likely to deceive or cause confusion in the course of trade) their trade mark.
HSBC definitely can sue this bugger for infringement/passing off..
Bank not amused by abbreviation use
BY ROYCE CHEAH
KUALA LUMPUR: The next time you drive around Bangsar and see a bright yellow sign with the letters “HSBC”, do not mistake it for the financial institution with the tag line “The world’s local bank”.
The sign is actually for a restaurant, and the “HSBC” abbreviation stands for Hot & Spicy Bangsar Cuisine.
When met by The Star, owner N. Mangaladavi said that the bank was not amused, initially.
“I thought spicy food and banks didn’t have anything in common, but the bank’s management visited this restaurant soon after it opened in 2001 and sent me legal letters asking me to change the name and logo,” she said.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?:
S. Nadarajah, one of the owners of the restaurant, welcoming customers to the eatery in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.
But the 65-year-old businesswoman maintained that she had done nothing wrong and said the bank had not bothered her at all after the initial visit.
“However, I still wanted to use the name because I felt that food and banks had nothing in common.
“So after the visit, my son went to the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (Myipo) office and applied for our restaurant to be registered as the owners of the “HSBC” name under Class 43 (services for food and drink),” she said.
She added that this was done in 2002.
On April 28, she received a letter from Myipo stating that her application had beenrejected by them.
Checking with Myipo, it was learnt that the restaurant’s application was rejected because the name was “likely to deceive or confuse the public”.
A Myipo spokesman said it was wrong for the restaurant to want to use that name, and that HSBC bank had the right to take the owners to court.
The restaurant, which serves Chinese food, has since prospered and says that some HSBC bank staff also frequent it often.
Date: 20 August 2005
Venue: First Floor Auditorium KDU College, Petaling Jaya.
Time: 9AM - 5PM
A chance to listen to leading lawyers and law firm in Malaysia. Students are encouraged to attend as student may, from there, enquire about the life and practice of legal profession. Student may hand in their CVs as well.
Further, male students may also check out hot chicks and as for female students, hot guys. Dont miss this opportunity!
As for me...I'll be at home saving my energy for Relevation PD Rave...wOOHooo!!!!!!
gguni wrote in my last post :-
"good shit. But got cases in Malaysia where rich, bald, ugly chinese men got more than 2 wives.
How did they get pass the law? Marry in different state?"
To answer that :-
You see bro, the first wife will be his legitimate wife recognisable in law. The second wife will be consider as his second wife under his own customary and private law. The second wife will not be recognisable as his legitimate wife under the law. Nevertheless, all his children from his second wife will be his children under the Malaysia law if his name is in the children's birth certificate. Both of 2 wives can live happily with him unless he die intestate, meaning he die without a will. Then, you will see a war between both the wives and their children over his property.
However, i have a better idea how all these bold, horny old man can marry more than one, in fact up to 5. Let's look at the following scenaro :-
Tan Sri Lee is a afflunet, horny old bastard. At the age 50, he still dream of having more than 1 wife. His wife is so damn understanding and have no complain of it. In order to realise his dream, he converts to Muslim but his wife remain as a non Muslim. Once, he converted to Muslim, his marriage with his wife, a non Muslim is nulified but still recognisable under civil law. They do not go for divorce and just let it be. Soon, Tan Sri Lee hooked up with 4 girls aged between 18-25. He married all of them. So there you go, Tan Sri Lee has 5 wives. One recognsiable under civil law and 4 others recognisable under Syariah Law.
NOTE: This is the author's own point of view. Should you choose to believe and practice it, the author and the members of www.xes.cx will not be liable for it.
We all know that polygamy is not allowed in Malaysia except for Muslim. Polygamy according to www.dictionary.com mean "The condition or practice of having more than one spouse at one time." So that mean, a man cannot have two wives or a woman cannot have two husband. But, what if a person who has two spouse with different gender? Let''s look at the example below :-
Joanne is a bisexual. Although she is married to John but at the same time she is deeply in love with Jane too. John is extremely open minded and understanding, he does not complain about Joanne's extra marrital relationship with Jane. One day, Joanne and Jane decided to get marry, in some hippies land as a lesbian couple. John does not complain at all.
When Joanne and Jane return to Malaysia, Joanne is charged in Court for practising polygamy.
"Joanne, how many husband do you have?" asked the public prosecutor
"one only wor."
"then what is Jane to you."
"my wife lar"
The public prosecutor has to drop his case because homosexual marriage is not recognisable in Malaysia. Hence, Joanne does not commit any polygamy.
NOTE: This is the author's own point of view. Should you choose to believe and practice it, the author and the members of www.xes.cx will not be liable for it.
NOTE:This article is written without prejudice to both the profession of lawyer and doctor. If you find this article too offensive to you, it is just meant to be a joke and the author have no whatsoever intention of defaming or degrading either profession. This is solely the author's view.
We all know that lawyer and doctor are consider the two most pretigious profession in a traditional, conventional thinking chinese family. But, what is the difference between the two profession in practice?
When a person who had been served a summon claiming over RM1 Million, he goes to a lawyer.
A: Lawyer! Lawyer! please help me. Somone suing me for RM1 Million lar..die lar, i am screwed this time. My wife and children will starve to death. My life will be over!!!! HELP ME!!!
Lawyer: (after looking at the summon) Ok no problem, i will save you.
A: How much will you charge me?
Lawyer: RM100,000 only.
A: HUH!!!! U MAD AR!!!
But, when a person who had a critical disease goes to a doctor.
A: Doctor! Doctor! Please help me, i am going to die soon.
Doctor: (after looking at the medical report) No problem, i will save you.
A: How much will you charge me?
Doctor: RM100,000
A: OK!
When the lawyer fight off the RM1 Million suit against the person and save his life from collasping
A: Thank you ar, Lawyer.
Lawyer: This is your bill
A: Crazy ar! RM100,000. I don't want to pay!
Lawyer: But you agreed? You said that you shall be grateful to me if i save your life and shall pay RM100,000.
A: Why u so greedy. You lauya buruk lar...charge so much, go to hell lar.
Lawyer: ....
A: Give discount lar then i will pay.
Then the Lawyer will have no choice but to give him 50% discount.
But, the doctor cured the person from the critical disease
A: Doctor, you are my saviour! You save my life!!!
Doctor: Nah...RM100,000 bill
A: Of cos, i will pay. You are the angel of my life!
He doesn't even ask for a discount.
When a lawyer lose the person's case because the opponent had a solid good case against him.
A: Pukimah ("motherfucker"), you lauya buruk. Now, my life gone lar now. I hope you die tommorow and rod in hell! Don't even wish that i will pay you a cent. If you want, you sue me lar!!!
He will scold the lawyer till his kingdom come.
But, when a doctor fail to cure the person
A: Doctor, i know you have try your best already. Thank you very much.
Our legal aid duty ends today. Though it’s been 3 month, it seems that it’s been a long time.
It was a very enjoyable experience. We were able to meet many types of people, criminals especially. The first few sessions were hell for us, none of us got proper training everything ran on trial and error. Nice scolding from Magistrates and even bullied by men in uniform.
We have to dress in black and white when attending court.
In the beginning, we pitied the criminals. They lived in horrid conditions, abused and some didn’t have proper shower for weeks. But after weeks of exposure, our sympathy towards them is almost zero.
One of the most important rules we learnt is never trust our clients. Many has lied to us and eventually exposed in court. It was embarrassing sometimes to find our clients with 2 pages worth of previous convictions and we already told the court that our client is a first offender!
He had to mitigate for 5 Indian ladies who came on a tourist visa and was cheated by their travel agent. The travel agent claimed that he is able to convert their tourist visa to working visa but subsequently ran away with the money.
Hence the ladies, with no choice, decided to set up a store by the road side. They were subsequently arrested and charged with S6 of the Immigration Act whereby it carries an imprisonment, fine and even whipping.
The ladies though that they could get away with a fine but unfortunately the learned Magistrate imposed an imprisonment sentence. 5 of the ladies started crying and bawling loudly in the court. The police officers had to drag them out.
Backyard of KL Magistrate Court
My fellow colleague had to console a friend of the ladies.
N: Please tell their families in India that they cant come back so soon.
F: I’m afraid I cant do that.
N: Why not?
F: You see…they come from a small village in India…
N: So?
F: If I tell them, I’m afraid that their family would commit suicide!!
N: \(*O*)/!!!!
In Malaysia, our law profession regulates itself by imposing rules and regulations.
One of them is court attire. Our Legal Profession (Ethics and Etiquette) Rules provides that all lawyers who are appearing in court be dressed in black and white (although some dark colours are allowed).
Although some laymen will mistake us for waiters or salesmen, this rule must be strictly complied. We can’t wear anything fancy in court as well. Any Doraemon or Simpson characters on our clothes will end with us being thrown out of court.
As for hairstyle, it seems that the rules are pretty relaxed. I've seen blonde lawyers appearing in court. I've also seen male lawyers with long hair appearing in court.
But as for earrings, I've not come across any rules prohibiting it.
Despite attending court almost everyday, I have not removed my earlobe piercing till date. I had it since year 1999.
This picture was taken 2 years ago.
Few weeks ago..
I appeared before a judge.
It was done in chambers (in his room) with another fellow opponent.
I was staring into blank space while my opponent was submitting his case..then suddenly..
"ARE YOU WEARING AN EARRING? PLEASE TAKE IT OUT!”, screamed the SAR.
He almost stood up in anger.
I immediately grabbed my ear, with my eyes opened wide with shock.
I said...
“NO, I’m not wearing any”.
It seems that the hole on my ear looked like an earring. Thank GOD I removed it before going into court!
A mother of 2 came to see my friend to seek advice. The worst had happened to her family. Her son has been sexually abusing her daughter. Her husband, also the father of the children, refused to turn the boy to the police as he is the only son and he doesnt want to lose his only son.
What made it worst is that, the son is only 15 years and the daughter is only 8 years old.
The parents were afraid to send the girl for a medical checkup because under S27 of Childs Act 2001, a medical officer or medical practitioner has a duty to inform a protector (e.g. Department of Social Welfare) if he believes that the child has been sexually abused. S27 and its subsections are as follow:
Duty of medical officer or medical practitioner
27. (1)If a medical officer or a registered medical practitioner believes on reasonable grounds that a child he is examining or treating is physically or emotionally injured as a result of being ill-treated,neglected,abandoned or exposed,or is sexually abused, he shall immediately inform a Protector.
(2)Any medical officer or registered medical practitioner who fails to comply with subsection (1)commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding five thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.
(3)If the registered medical practitioner referred to in subsection (1)is a medical officer,he may take the child referred to in that subsection into temporary custody until such time as the temporary custody of the child is assumed by a Protector or police officer.
KL Magistrate Court..you might end up here if you decide to commit a crime in KL.
What would you do if you are in that family's situation?
Turning the son in would seem like everybody's answer. He's only 15 hence by right he should be detained in a centre which is separated from the adult criminals. Unfortunately, this doesnt happen all the time.
I quote a senior counsel, "The only sickness that prison can cure is heterosexuality". A young boy like him would no doubt serve as a sex slave for a building full of men. Retribution? No no, the boy should burn in hell not sodomized on Earth.
Yesterday, while performing my legal aid duty @ Criminal Magistrate Court, we had this slightly built tall Chinese guy. My partner for the day, Sue Yin interviewed him in the lockup.
Since she knows how to speak Chinese as well, I left her alone to interview the client. Suddenly, she called for me.
Sue Yin: I don’t understand what is he saying.
Me: What are you charged for?
Guy: Hang tou pat Ming.. (I think he said that in Chinese)
Me: What is that???
He nodded his head… and said..
Guy: Mmm..i went to the stairs and took off my pants…
Me&Sue Yin: OOOOHHH…FLASHER!!!
Poor guy was too embarrassed to explain it to Sue Yin.
He seems like a normal person. But what he did was sick. Apparently, according to the brief facts, he stripped naked and climbed a staircase at an apartment. He flashed at a lady who was cooking @ her kitchen. She immediately screamed out loud.
The husband of the lady immediately chased after him and so did the apartment residents. He was caught in no time.
Under S294(a) of the Malaysian Penal Code, the imprisonment sentence may extend to 3 months. For that offence, Mr. Flasher was sentenced to 1 month imprisonment.
I almost laughed out loud when the brief facts were read out. The lawyer next to me was laughing as well. So did the interpreter who was reading the charge out loud. LOL
One of my colleagues told us of one her previous experience. It was couple of years ago, she was walking alone around Taylor’s College in PJ. Suddenly, a man in a blue Wira (Malaysian Car) stopped next to her.. The driver stopped and said to colleague, “Mau tengok? (you want to see?).
Colleague: NoOOOOOO
Driver: Mau Tengok?? (you want to see??)
Colleague: NO!
The Indian driver didn’t care. He took off his pants and started flashing off his thing. Apparently this guy is infamous for flashing around that college area. His Blue Wira used to lurk there to pray on girls. I wonder if he’s still there. Girls, please feel free to smash his car or stomp his balls whenever he flashes again.
BY R.S.N. MURALI
SEREMBAN: While the widely-hyped movie Star Wars runs in cinemas all over the world, the dark force of Darth Vader struck in Bandar Baru Nilai.
Yesterday, women factory workers in two industrial areas were appalled and screamed when a man in full Darth Vader costume flashed them.
A 33-year-old factory supervisor who identified herself as “Priscilla” said the man got out of his tinted two-door car, strutted about menacingly in his Darth Vader suit before opening it and revealing himself to 15 women workers standing at a bus stop at about 7am.
“At first, I thought he was a die-hard Star Wars fan trying to impress us with his costume. But we were shocked when he showed us his private-parts,” she said.
The women were waiting for buses to take them home after their night shift.
“We were all exhausted after a long day at work and did not see the man’s face as he was wearing a dark mask,” she said.
When some of the women screamed, he jumped into his car and drove off towards the North-South Expressway.
“Next time it will not be “Revenge of the Sith” but revenge on a sick man if we catch him doing his act again,” she added.
The flasher was reported to have displayed himself to another group of workers at a nearby factory.
When contacted, Acting OCPD Supt Mohd Taib Latif said the police need more information such as the flasher's car registration number to track him down.
Man on Web porn charge
KUALA LUMPUR: A cellphone salesman was charged in a magistrate’s court yesterday with having a laptop containing a movie taken from a pornographic website.
Lim Puay Huat, who claimed trial, is the first person to be prosecuted in Malaysia for an offence related to a pornographic website.
The 21-year-old from Jalan Air Panas Baru, Setapak, was charged under the Film Censorship Act.
He allegedly had in his possession a laptop containing the pornographic movie in 3GP (video for mobile phones) and RM (Real Media video) file formats.
He was said to have committed the offence at The Cellphone sales counter in front of a shoe shop at No. G20, Pertama Complex in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman here at 5.55pm on Tuesday.
If found guilty, he can be fined up to RM50,000 and jailed up to five years under Section 5(1)(a) of the Act.
Prosecuting officer Chief Inspector Vasu Appu asked the court to impose a RM10,000 bail on Lim in view of the gravity of the offence.
“This is clearly reflected in the serious attention given by the Government to curb the offence.
“It has become very unhealthy now that even children can have access to pornographic material,” he said.
He then pointed out to the court a recent news article splashed prominently in The Star about the existence of 1.5 million pornographic websites that could be easily accessed.
He said that in the article Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the authorities were mulling over the possibility of introducing a censorship mechanism to block access to such sites by surfers.
Lim, who pleaded for a lower bail, was not represented.
Magistrate Mohd Khairi Haron set a RM8,000 bail on Lim.
An old man came in to see me. He spoke nothing else but broken melay and mandrin.
"Eh uncle, you are from Sabah ar?" I asked when i saw his I.C. no and address
"Ya"
"I am from Sarawak ler, uncle."
"Wah! good! good1"
(note: Sabah and Sarawak are two states of the Federation of Malaysia located on the Island of Borneo)
"So, uncle how can i help you?"
"My farm in Sabah is flooded because of the illegal landfilling"
"oooh...uncle, we don't provide legal aid for tortious matter ler"
"Please help lar, young man."
That uncle did pass the mean test because he is seriously poor. All he has in his possession is a lousy land worth probably very little now because of the landfilling. He came all the way over here to seek help. Before this he tried all sort of avenue, including making complaint to the government department, and the newspaper agency. He even paid a visti to the ex Sabah Cheif Minister, Chung Kah Kiat but they were all useless.
"Uncle, why don't you complain to MCA?"
"I got ar. The Sabah MCA cannot help me also."
"How come?"
"Because everytime i go see them, they said that they had no time! They are busy playing mahjong!"
"...."
Anyhow, the KL Legal Aid Centre couldn't help that uncle. However, that uncle wanted to see Michael Cheung, the cheif of MCA Complaint Bureau. Hence, i gave him the direction and sent him off to Putra LRT. That is the least i could do for that uncle.
Last week, Frank and I attended the Bar Council Ethics Dinner right after our compulsary Ethics Lecture.
It was held @ the Royal Selangor Club, one of the most prestigous clubs in Malaysia. It was attended by 92 other chambering students plus some senior members of the Bar.
Our guest speaker, Mr. S1varasa, the Vice President of KeAD1Lan (opposition political party of Malaysia) gave a great speech which serves to advise soon-to-be lawyers.
We were fortunate to be seated next to him. We gave us great advice and loads of his political views. And of course, since legal ethics were still fresh on our minds, we applied them in the dinner.
Simple rules like,
1. Dont leave the table until the most senior person does.
2. Greet seniors
3. Dont start eating until the most senior person does.
were complied strictly.
However...
Mr. Siva: Do you know that the government has tried to silence us by controlling the media??
Cindy: uh uh yes yes..
Me: yayayaya
Mr. Siva: blablablabla
Cindy: uh uh yes yes..
Cindy then turns to me and said,
I need to go to the toilet...helpp mee...can he please shut up...
Me: LOL!!!!
Here are some pictures from that night..
Elaine: wow your chicken looks nice!! but my fish is nicer..yumyum..
Me: (takes a bite) mmmmmmm.. HOU HOU MEIII (Chinese for delicious) Mine's better!!
Elaine: oh really??
Me: yes!! btw..you wanna swap dishes? mine's "great"
Elaine: (shows middle finger)
Me: Wah...this thing is damn kencing manis (diabetic) man.. damn sweet!! I like..
Cindy: May it please my Lord, pls shut up.. I need to go to the toilet...
Me: LOL!!
Frank with his killer pose. (R) Der Lin: mmmm frank..so handsome..
As you all already know, xes is doing dock brief for his legal aid duty and i have been assigned to Legal Aid Clinic. My duty is to ascertain whether or not the client is qualify for free legal service and to give legal advise. I had met quite a few interesting clients although i had only done this twice.
Case 1
A man walked in with his wife and son. The man cried in the center because he did not have to raise enough money for the bail.
" Please help me! I only have RM1000. I don't have enough money for my bail. Can you go to the court now and ask the judge for discount ar..."
"Mr, the least the judge is gonna give is RM2000 lar."
"NO!!!! Help me plz!!!"
"...."
"Can the Bar Council lend me RM1000 ar? I promise that i will pay back."
"Cannot lar"
"Plz lar...look at my son, so young...i really don't want to go jail lar. I am innocent lar."
Too bad, the Bar Council don't have the policy of lending money to client. I told him to go back and try to raise any RM1000. In the meantime, i will get the dock brief people to mitigate for a lower bail on his behalf. Sadly, i was told last friday that that man went to jail anyway.
Case 2
A chinese man walked into the clinic, asking for legal aid.
"Mr, how can i help you?" i asked.
"I HAVE A PARANG (machete) BEHIND MY CAR!" he said loudly.
WTF! I almost dropped my pen when i heard that.
Case 3
A businessman walked into the clinic.
"Mr, how can i help you?"
"hahahahhaha....hahahhahahaha."
Oh no!!! Nut case!
"eeer...Mr?"
"It's my indon worker lar. He went missing for 2 weeks. We made a police report. You know what?"
"what?"
"The police was looking high and low for him and they cannot find him because he was in the lockup!....hahahahahhahaha."
"OH MY GOd...hahahahhahaha..."
"So...hahahhaha...so...hahahhaha, i think Bar Council should do something about this lar...hahahhaha"
"Ok..hehe"
"But i want you guys to know that he is no longer my employee now. His contract had been terminated upon him been caught for a criminal offence."
"oooh, he is a legal lar"
"Ya, he has permit to work for us. BTW, he is in Sungai Buloh Prison now...hahahahhahaha...and the damn police cannot find him!...hahahahhaha."
"Mr, you are really kind lar. You help your ex employee although he went missing for 2 weeks for no reason."
"No lar. This the right thing to do, for the sake of humanities."
Today, i attened Legal Ethic lectures with xes at the Bar Council. When i was attending our 2nd lecture of the day, i received a phone call from the Court's chambering division. I was asked to see the Chief Clerk in charge of Chambering matter ASAP. Hence, i decided to sneak out for 10 mins since the court was just next to the Bar Council Building. I quitely walked out from the side door. I ran to the lift and pressed the button, suddenly...
"Where are you going!"
Shit, Ms. I, one of the Bar Council Staff in charge of the Ethic lecture.
Me: ummmm....(quick Frank,lie!).
Ms. I: Where are you going?
Me: I have to step over to see Mr. M for 10 mins! It's urgent!
(Shit, why did i tell the truth. *slap forehead* I guess, the ethic lecture was working on me already).
Ms. I: No, you cannot AND you are not allow to go in the lecture theatre until the next lecture start.
Me: Only for 10 mins...can lar. It's urgent...plz plz..plz
Ms. I: No! Also, you have to come back next month to attend this particular lecture again.
Me: Nooooooooooo....wait, the lecture is not ending in another 10 mins time. Let me in lar...i promise i will be a goodboy.
Ms. I: No!
Shit, Lady Luck was definately not on my side today.
Anyway, here is the latest event happening around town this week :-
Tek-Nicianz Presents Expression Sessions'02 @ Barcode - 14/05/05 from 12AM there to catch the anticipated 4-decks, 2- mixers & EFX Set.
1am - 3am trance
3am - 4am 4 decks funky techno
4am - 6am banging hard trance
Featuring
Kughen
Suresh Nelson
Romel Johan
&
WllyTHkd
Tickets are priced at RM30 + 1 Drinks
See You There!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Say hi to xes or me if you happen to spot us there =P
Just like any other countries, Malaysia’s legal system does provide legal aid services. Other than lying on our free time, lawyers do give pro-bono advice and also represent clients at court for free.
Legal aid ranges from prison visits to syariah law advice. The legal aid centre in Kuala Lumpur is mainly fuelled by Chambering Students as chambering students have to perform legal aid services for couple of times before being called to the Bar.
Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad - currently houses the Malaysian Courts.
I was fortunate enough to be picked for the Dock Brief program, a program where we get to represent unrepresented criminals in criminal courts. Some criminals could not afford lawyers hence they have no where to turn to and no idea what to do in Court. Hence with the legal aid program, they will be guided accordingly before they go to hell for their sins.
Today was my first training day. It was fun running around courts interviewing criminals and meeting all sorts of people. I was given the opportunity to interview 2 criminals, one of them charged pimping and another with drug abuse.
Seeing those bald headed men in the cell makes you feel pity for them despite the fact they have committed crimes that you wish you could personally punish them. Those unfortunate ones who didn’t get bailed would have to stay in the prison until their next hearing date. I heard there was a case where the mother of an accused did not want the son the plead guilty but does not have the money to bail him. She claimed that her son is innocent and doesn’t want a criminal record to be entered in her son’s name. However, the accused has been in jail since last year. If he had pleaded guilty on day one. He would be out by today or in few weeks time. Unfortunately, he pleaded not guilty and had to stay in jail till his next hearing.
I had an interesting moment with one of the people that I interviewed,
“Hi, I’m Foong. I’m from the legal aid centre. Are you pleading guilty? If so, do you want you to represent you in court for free?”
Accused: I’ll plead guilty if you call my wife that I’m here.
Since I was told that I’m not supposed to do that, I turned the accused’s request down. In a sad tone, he requested us to proceed with the interview. The whole purpose of the interview is to extract information which will mitigate his sentence. It seems that the accused was a learned person who was unfortunate to be caught with drugs.
But of course, lawyers are humans too. Seeing all those unfortunate souls makes you feel pity for them. After we finish interviewing all the criminals, we chilled while waiting for the judge to come. I felt bad for rejecting his request hence I offered to call his wife for him. His wife doesn’t know that he’s changing prisons hence it is essential to inform her (but I’m sure she will be informed by prison officers after the sentencing). I did inform his wife with a PUBLIC PHONE. Rule No. 1 never give your contact to any criminals or their family members.
He got a 7 months sentence for drug possession.
One of the most important mitigating factors is his previous convictions. If he is a first time offender, he may get away with a light sentence or even a bond of good behavior or binding over i.e. no imprisonment. However, sometimes the accused would lie about their previous offences. I caught one trying to lie..
Me: Do you have previous offences? Which also includes other offences than you are now charged?
Accused: (Looks sideway) No.
Me: Don’t lie to me, there’s no point lying to me cause the prosecuting officer has a list of your previous offences.
Accused: (nods his head) Yes… I was under remand once few years back.. (and went on..)
My firm booked a table for us Chambies and Legal Assistances for the KL Annual B4r D1nner yesterday. It was held in Sherat0n Imperial Ballroom with about 500 people. And yes, 500 lawyers. Imagine a bomb went off and we would not have any one in the courts on Monday.
Despite the mediocre food, the stand up comedy was good. Jokes poking politicians and races cracked everyone up. They even sang a song about Viagra!
I couldn't sleep well this morning. Calls started coming in at 10AM. Everyone seems to be hyped out about the legal examination results, which came out this morning.
I, on the other hand, was stressed. The jam in Kuala Lumpur didn't help at all. My heartbeat went berserk as I travel to the examination board. My friend made it worst by telling me that his friend failed the exams.
The results were displayed at a notice board, with names of people who passed and those with a conditional pass (that means failed one paper, need to resit the failed paper). Guess what I got?
I got a f*cking conditional PASS ARGHHHHH
However, my overall results were good. I got A, B, C and P (pass) for my other 4 papers. I failed my Civil Procedure. It was one of my strongest subjects but yet I failed it. It could be due to the incident I had few hours before exams (where I vomited and became drowsy in the exam hall). I am deeply disappointed.
The good news is that I'm one of the rumoured 19% who passed this year.
Oh well, resits will be held next month. I'll bury myself with notes till then.
f*ck.. I dont want my A, give me a P for my civil procedure!!
Excuse me while I stab myself. *stab stab stab* *blood splatters all over the room*
Thank you everybody for the wishes. I�m sorry that I didn't reply to the SMSs as I was already asleep by 10pm!
My day didn't start off well. At 3AM, I woke up with food poisoning. I vomited like farkkkk. It was so bad till I couldn't drive or eat breakfast.
My tenant then gave me some painkiller and something to control my bladder. It helped a little bit during exams but I was so fucking drowsy. At one point, I wanted to drop my pen and sleep. Fortunately, I held on and managed to finish the paper.
I don't know why but I had an extra hour after I finish my paper. Its either that I'm damn good or I left out a big portion to write. But overall, I think I've done well.
I slept the entire day after that. I was supposed to study but I felt that my brain was damn dry. Dehydrated I think.
God damn the special pork chop rice, or mm... the water melon juice. I shall never have them again.
The man now on trial in the High Court for the rape and grisly murder of Canny Ong confessed that he killed her by stabbing her twice in the stomach and leaving her to bleed to death in a manhole.
The 10-page confession, made by Ahmad Najib Aris to a magistrate on June 21 last year ? one day after his arrest ? was read out in the High Court yesterday, and has been accepted as evidence.
Ahmad Najib's 10-page confession was read out in the High Court after it was accepted as evidence by the presiding judge.
The 29-year-old aircraft cabin cleaner supervisor is accused of raping and murdering Canny at the 11th km Old Klang Road between 1am and 5am on June 14 last year.
Translation of Ahmad Najib Aris' confession as taken down by the then magistrate Muhamad Rushdan Mohamad (Long text, but recommended read, if too lazy just read the bold letters)
Ahmad Najib and Canny Ong
IT WAS about 11pm to 11.15pm on Friday, June 13, 2003. I had gone to the Bangsar Shopping Complex to seek someone whom I had wanted to take revenge on.
Once I reached there, I walked from the first to the third floor. At about 11.30pm, on the second floor, I bumped into the person whom I suspected was the one I was looking for.
I tailed the Chinese woman for about 20m while she was heading to her Proton Tiara. She opened the door next to the driver?s seat and took something from the front passenger seat.
I pushed her and she fell onto the seat. I entered the car and sat on the driver?s seat and verbally threatened her to be quiet.
She was trembling with fear but obeyed my instructions. I drove the car from the second to the first floor and through the parking boom bar and headed towards Subang airport near Saujana.
I stopped the car at a bright spot where many cars were passing.
I struck a conversation with her and tried to refresh her memory to find out if she could remember me. She told me she did not know me.
I then checked her passport and found out that she was residing in America. I became confused as I had abducted the wrong person, but who looked very much like my target.
I talked with her with the intention of letting her go, but a motorcyclist came near our car and started knocking at the door.
The Indian man flashed his so-called authority card and ordered me to hand over my identity card and that of the woman.
I asked him to show me his authority card again so that I could see it clearly. When he refused, it struck me that he might be an impostor.
When he ordered us to get out of the car, I feared something might happen, and when I asked the man to return the identity cards, he refused, and I drove off.
Before I drove away, the Indian man managed to puncture the front right tyre of the car. I drove towards Subang Jaya with the woman. I stopped at Subang Jaya Shopping Complex and got out of the car to find that the tyre was punctured.
I continued towards Sunway Pyramid and finally parked the car at a construction site near the Taman Datuk Harun KTM Komuter station where the woman and I had a quarrel. At that moment, I felt that our relationship was like that of close friends.
We sat in the car for about five minutes before I jokingly asked her if she wanted to have sex with me. She became very quiet. I then took a knife out from below my seat and put it on the speedometer without making any threats against her.
She then agreed to have sex with me. I told her to climb over to the back seat and I followed.
We engaged in a sexual relationship which I thought was with the woman?s consent because she did not cry or show her anger. But shortly after having sex with her, I felt scared. I reached for the knife that I had placed on my foot. It was not my intention to stab her. She was wiping her lips with a piece of tissue paper and suddenly put up a struggle. I got a shock and stabbed her twice in the stomach.
I was stunned. I realised that she was still alive. Suddenly, I saw a man with a piece of wood in his hand coming towards the car. I climbed back to the driver?s seat and drove to another spot nearby. There I helped the woman put on her pants and blouse.
I told her not to move a lot because she was bleeding profusely. We spent 20 minutes in the car. Fearing that I would be spotted by passing patrol cars, I carried the woman to a barricade next to the car. The (height of the) barricade reached me above my chest.
I placed her on top of the barricade and I sat resting with her. She was still alive then, and I told her that I planned to send her to a hospital.
Before I went back to the car, I tied her hands and feet and gagged her mouth so that she could not move or scream.
Just before that, I saw a van and a red car stopping beside the Tiara. I leapt into a manhole and peeped at the two men while they ransacked the Tiara.
About five to seven minutes later, the two men drove their vehicles away and I went to the Tiara. I saw that they had taken the woman?s belongings such as her handphone and handbag, in which I suspected all her valuables were kept.
I was disappointed as I had intended to use her money to send her to the hospital.
Now, without the money, I could only keep her company where she was lying. I could not do anything except ask for her forgiveness.
I told her to go to heaven and pulled her down from the wall (barricade). She was almost lifeless (nyawa-nyawa ikan) by the time I shoved her into the manhole.
Before leaving her, I held her hand and apologised again. I told her I would burn her remains. She stared at me and just then the cloth which gagged her mouth came off. She told me to leave her alone. She said she would rather be left there as she was going to heaven.
I left her and covered the hole with a plank. She did not show any reaction. She did not scream or struggle.
I then drove the car about three kilometres and hid the car there. I walked towards a petrol station and threw the knife away.
I stopped a taxi and went home to Pantai Dalam. It was already about 6am to 6.10am on Saturday.
The next day, I bought two bottles of petrol and at about 11.30pm to midnight, I returned to the spot and removed the plank covering the manhole. I wept. I held her legs and hands and asked to be forgiven. I then sought permission to burn the corpse before leaving the scene.
My opinion Ahmad Najib is charged under s302 of the Penal Code which carries a mandatory death sentence if convicted. Hence in order for Ahmad Najib to be convicted the prosecution must prove that Ahmad Najib intentionally killed or cause grievous bodily harm over Canny Ong. However,
I reached for the knife that I had placed on my foot. It was not my intention to stab her. She was wiping her lips with a piece of tissue paper and suddenly put up a struggle. I got a shock and stabbed her twice in the stomach.
Based on the confession above, Ahmad Najib claimed that he had no intention to kill her and acted on self defence. Therefore, if his confession were to be taken as it is, Ahmad Najib would only be guilty of manslaughter which only carries a maximum imprisonment of 20 years (s304A) or 10 years imprisonment (s304B).
I guess the public?s opinion is to impose death sentence for such inhuman act. However, the law does not provide for death sentence over manslaughter. Hence, don't be surprised if you see Ahmad Najib being sentence to jail rather than being hung for it
The following was sent to my Inbox earlier, hoping to share a good laugh with all you visitors!
These are the things people actually said in US courts, taken down and published by court reporters - who suffered the torment of trying to keep straight faces while these exchanges were taking place. Some of these are excellent; don't miss the last one.
Q: Are you sexually active? A: No, I just lie there.
Q: What is your date of birth? A: July fifteenth. Q: What year? A: Every year.
Q: What gear were you in at the moment of impact? A: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
Q: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all? A: Yes. Q: And in what ways does it affect your memory? A: I forget. Q: You forget. Can you give us an example of something you've forgotten?
Q: How old is your son, the one living with you? A: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which. Q: How long has he lived with you? A: Forty-five years.
Q: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke up that morning? A: He said, "Where am I, Cathy?" Q: And why did that upset you? A: My name is Susan.
Q: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo or The occult? A: We both do. Q: Voodoo? A: We do. Q: You do? A: Yes, voodoo.
Q: Now Doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?
Q: The youngest son, the twenty-year old, how old is he?
Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?
Q: So the date of conception [of the baby] was August 8th? A: Yes. Q: And what were you doing at that time?
Q: She had three children, right? A: Yes. Q: How many were boys? A: None. Q: Were there any girls?
Q: How was your first marriage terminated? A: By death. Q: And by whose death was it terminated?
Q: Can you describe the individual? A: He was about medium height and had a beard. Q: Was this a male, or a female?
Q: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney? A: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people? A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.
Q: All your responses must be oral, ok? What school did you go to? A: Oral.
Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? A: The autopsy started around 8.30 pm. Q: And Mr Dennington was dead at the time? A: No he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.
Q: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? A: No. Q: Did you check for blood pressure? A: No. Q: Did you check for breathing? A: No. Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? A: No. Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor? A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar. Q: But the patient could still have been alive, nevertheless? A: Yes it is possible that he could have been alive and practising law somewhere.
