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| The Star's Page 1 today |
The Star front-paged two court cases today. The main headline Conversion quashed is on Big Court Case No 1, where a High Court in Perak decided that the conversion to Islam of three under-aged children by their father was invalid. The so-calledBig Court Case No 2 is on the decision by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to grant bail that had earlier been refused to Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee for - no prizes - offending Muslims/Islam with their bah kut teh Ramadan Facebook greeting. The sex bloggers' predicament was made the main story for the Star online, with an additional story on how they fear for their lives (even though they must be disappointed that no threats on their lives had actually been made!).
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| The Star Online's cover , July 26 |
These two are big stories, indeed, but I think a lot of people would agree that the case in Penang where Engineer (was) fined (only) RM7,000 for careless driving in stewardess'death is as significant and could do with better treatment. I mean, this dude drove against the flow of traffic on an expressway at 3 a.m, caused a head-on collision that killed someone's daughter, and all he got was a RM7k fine. Of, yeah, OK, he also had to pay the family of the dead girl RM4,000 in compensation (which he paid on the spot).
Try the Sun's version, more details and more human interest ...
Engineer fined RM7,000 for careless driving
GEORGE TOWN (July 25, 2013): A woman who lost her daughter to another's careless driving could not hold back her grief after being told that the man responsible was merely fined RM7,000, in default of a seven-month jail term.
The magistrate's court here delivered the sentence to engineer Tan Chia Hui, 25, after he pleaded guilty to driving carelessly, which caused the death of air stewardess Ng Sweet Yuin, 27.
Magistrate Sri Pracha Nanthini Balabedha also ordered Tan to pay the family RM4,000 in compensation.
Later, outside the court, Ng's mother Thniah Poh Choo, 55, who was accompanied by several family members, was seen in tears. "The fine is too low. It's not fair," she cried.
Tan's vehicle collided head-on with Ng's Perodua MyVi on the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway on Dec 2, 2010 at 3.06am. Ng was reported to have died on the spot. Tan broke both legs and sustained multiple injuries.
After the sentence was read in court, his lawyer Baljit Singh asked that Tan be allowed to pay the compensation money directly to the court to avoid any untoward incident with the victim's family. Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Faisal Md Noor did not object.
Baljit also requested that Tan not be handcuffed as he would settle the fine and bail on the same day. Magistrate Sri Pracha agreed to both requests.
Tan had pleaded guilty to an amended charge of driving without consideration of other motorists.
He was charged under Section 43 (1) of the Road Transportation Act 1987, which carries a fine of between RM4,000 and RM10,000, and a jail term of up to 12 months.
In February 2011, Tan was charged under Section 41 (1) of the same act for reckless driving, but had claimed trial to it.
Sri Pracha had then found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused under this charge.