The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Writing the obituary for the death penalty

Posted: 01 Nov 2012 04:32 PM PDT

NOV 2 — Many of us born in the '70s would be familiar with this particular public service announcement ad on TV: a man in a kampung does a favour for a friend — he delivers a parcel during a trip to the city. It's something we have all done at one time or another.

Upon arrival, he meets up with the intended recipient of the package, a mysterious woman in a white dress who takes him to an abandoned building. He passes the parcel to her and at that very moment, police emerge from the shadows and arrest him.

It turns out that he was unknowingly acting as a courier for the distribution and trafficking of illegal drugs. An offence that carries the death penalty. The segment ends with a shot of the man walking towards the gallows and the noose.

It is very possible that mandatory capital punishment for drug offences, like this public service announcement, may soon be a thing of the past.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's recent announcement that the government is looking into the possibility of abolishing the mandatory death sentence for drug offences is certainly a welcome one.

Abolishing capital punishment is actually a potentially unpopular move and one which will have many detractors who will insist the death penalty be maintained in the belief that it deters heinous crimes. There are many who are in favour of the death penalty for crimes such as murder, rape and the like. The debate might be long and quite tumultuous.

But this initiative by the government is a necessary one and is long overdue. We need to fully support this proposal and ensure that the death penalty for drug offences is finally abolished. We need to get behind this and the government must stay the course and make the abolishment become a reality.

But we must go further and put an end altogether to the existence of capital punishment in our legal system.

Just as slavery which is allowed in quite a few religions and has existed throughout Malaysian culture, heritage and history but has been dropped from contemporary practice, the death penalty too must head the way of the dodo.

The death penalty is a simplistic response to societal problems which emerge from issues such as poverty. The belief that an eye for an eye is the way to solve or provide remedy for the victims actually promotes and extends the suffering of those affected to the family and loved ones of those condemned to be on death row.

It is with sound reason that more than two-thirds of countries around the world have abolished the death penalty or no longer practise it. However, Malaysia is among 18 countries where the death penalty is still being carried out and it is legally mandatory upon conviction for crimes such as murder, drug trafficking, the possession of illegal firearms, and waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

A common question asked is whether the death penalty actually deters the occurrence of heinous and violent crimes such as murder.

It does not. There is no evidence from any existing study that demonstrates that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long prison sentences. However, it has been found that countries which impose the death penalty do not, in fact, have lower crime or murder rates than countries without capital punishment. The death penalty does not deter people from committing the related crime.

It has been shown through studies that increasing the severity of a punishment does not in fact add to deterrence. What has instead been demonstrated is that increasing severity results in decreasing weight and value of the deterrence in question. In other words, as hard as it may sound, the death penalty in the end has no value.

Capital punishment is also dependent on the perfect application of laws and the delivery of justice. But as we know, all judicial systems make mistakes which is the reason that there is an appeal process. As long as the death penalty exists, it is possible for innocent people to be executed.

Let's do this. It is time to abolish capital punishment and consign the death penalty to the dustbin of history.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Spoiler alert: 007 wins in the end

Posted: 01 Nov 2012 04:25 PM PDT

NOV 2 — My wife (being a TV personality and all... whoo!) was invited to walk the red carpet at the recent gala premiere of the new James Bond movie "Skyfall". She invited me along.

At first I declined, thinking that I wanted to let her have all the attention and did not want to steal her limelight. But she begged and pleaded. So I agreed on certain simple conditions:

1. I did not want any direct camera flashes in my eyes.

2. No questions by reporters about my estranged stepfather.

3. An air-conditioned trailer while waiting.

4. A bowl of M&Ms with all the green ones removed.

5. A lobster.

Then came time for the movie. I'm not a James Bond fan but I've seen almost all instalments of the franchise. And I would complain and rant every time.

"Skyfall" opened with a big fight and chase scene between Bond (who else?), another MI6 agent and a bad guy, with the mother of all lady bosses, M, directing them through ear-pieces.

Should I even bother describing the ridiculously outrageous chase scene which involved cars, motorcycles, trains, tunnels and a gigantic hoe tractor? I shouldn't.

It ends with Bond getting shot by mistake by his fellow MI6 agent, with orders by M. Should I even bother to mention that it is impossible for the hero to be killed so early in a movie like this? I shouldn't.

After everyone gets over the guilt and sadness of a dead orphan who has no other next-of-kin, lo and behold, he shows up after being nursed back to health by a beautiful Turkish woman (who he has sex with, of course!).

And more predictability happens after that. Bad guy does a dastardly deed. Good guy hunts bad guy down. Good guy and bad guy have ridiculously outrageous fight scenes. Good guy wins. And let's not forget, good guy has several sexual encounters in between. But I do have to mention that there are several "twists" in the "Skyfall" movie. Spoiler alert: do not read on if you want to be surprised.

The first "twist" is that Moneypenny is now black (looks like Obama being president has made some inroads!).

The second "twist" is that M (played by Judi Dench) dies in the end after getting hit by a bullet. And the third "twist" is that Bond actually sheds tears of sadness as M dies in his arms, but in a very macho and gentlemanly way, of course.

After the movie ended, my wife had to endure several hours of my ranting and complaining about how lousy, clichéd and predictable the new James Bond movie is. But then again, that's exactly the reason people watch James Bond movies.

I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole 143 minutes of "Skyfall", and all of the other Bond movies that I have seen. However, they're all very forgettable and it would all be completely erased from my memory several days after my viewing.

At the end of the gala evening, no reporters asked questions about my estranged stepfather. In fact, no reporters asked me any questions at all. Neither did I get my air-conditioned trailer, M&Ms (sans green) and lobster.

However, camera flashes did go off in my face and I did find a picture of me and my wife in the newspaper. The caption read: "News anchor Jasmine Abu Bakar (left) looking glamorous on the red carpet and partner."

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Jumaat, 2 November 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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