The Never Ending Potholes Stories in JB, Jalan Berlubang (2)

Family Sues JB Council, Mayor Over Son's Death

JOHOR BARU: A couple yesterday filed a suit against the Johor Baru City Council and the city's mayor over the death of their son who was killed when he was flung from a motorcycle after it hit a pothole two years ago.
The accident occurred in Jalan Daya in Taman Daya here at 3am on Aug 17, 2007.
Tan Cheng Ming, then 20, was riding pillion with a friend.
Tan suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to Sultan Ismail Hospital.
He, however, succumbed to his injuries the same day at 8.50am.
His friend who rode the motorcycle escaped with minor injuries.
Tan Nguang Chiang, 55, a former taxi driver, and his wife Kok Yoke Hing, 54, filed the suit at the Sessions Court naming the city council and the mayor as first defendant and second defendants respectively.
The claim stated that the accident had occurred due to the negligence of the local council and the mayor for not doing enough to patch up pothole-riddled roads in the city.
The couple are claiming special damages amounting to RM5,680 for funeral expenses and miscellaneous costs incurred in transportation to hospital and lodging police report.
They are also claiming for general damages amounting to RM134,400 which is RM700 per month for 16 years.
The couple claimed that Cheng Ming was working as a cook earning a monthly salary of about RM1,400 out of which he contributed RM700 a month towards household expenses.
The couple is represented by counsel Norman Fernandez, who later told reporters that he had written numerous letters to the council on behalf of his clients for an amicable settlement of the case.
He said the council, however, declined to respond, which prompted the filing of the suit.
Tan said nothing could bring his son back but there had to be closure on his death so that the family could move on with their lives.

Source: New Straits Times, January 22, 2009

******

Johor Bahru, the southern gateway to Malaysia, sure has its authorities on their toes.
But visitors greeted with potholes, is authorities all-ready on their toes?
Good job done?
The road conditions is sure to entice all first-time visitors.
It will be marvelled and remembered, especially by first timer, spending their time in JB.

Potholes of all sizes, tantalise the adrenalin of those raring and daring adventurous blood, but not the subtle ones.
Worst still, if greeted by streetlights along most roads which are seldom lit.
It is not earth hour all year round.

This man, fed up with the never ending trivial issues that had become mountain, took thing in his hands.

Mission To Fix Potholes   

JOHOR BARU: Fed-up with the increasing number of potholes all over the city here, especially during the recent rainy season, one man has stepped forward to make a difference.
The man, who wanted only to be known as Panjang and did not want to reveal much about his background, has taken it upon himself to cover up potholes wherever he finds them.
“I am fed-up with the increasing number of potholes around the city which poses a danger to motorists.
“I have no problem doing this sort of work. Anyway, it is for the good of the people,” he said, adding that he decided to act as the authorities were slow in repairing the roads.

CONCERN FOR MOTORISTS: Panjang filling a pothole with stones and pebbles on a busy road before sealing it with cement in Johor Baru Friday.

The 63-year-old man rides around on his bicycle looking for potholes, which he first fills with stones and pebbles and then seals with cement. The man, who claims to have been covering potholes for the past two years, has also risked his life many times covering holes in the middle of the road without proper signage.
Recently, a motorist knocked into his bicycle, which he had parked behind a car, while patching a hole along busy Jalan Maju.
“Some people think that I am a mad man and have scolded me for doing this,” he said.
The number of potholes around the city has increased, especially during the recent rainy season. The holes have also brought traffic to a crawl, especially during peak hours.
Some of the affected stretches are Pasir Gudang Highway, Jalan Ayer Molek, Jalan Tampoi, Jalan Tebrau, Jalan Bakar Batu and the roads near the Larkin bus station.
Motorist Azlan Affandi Saufee Affandi, 22, said he spends RM200 every two months on wheel alignment and balance due to the potholes.
“I have tried many times to avoid them but some are just too wide,” he said, adding that it was frustrating driving around the city.
Another motorist, Fadhilah Mohd Khalid, 22, a private college student, said the road near her home in Desa Skudai was pitted with potholes.
“It is like the road has been hit by a meteor shower,” she said.

Source: The Star - Saturday, January 21, 2006

******

Support Pours In For JB Pothole Patcher 

JOHOR BARU: Odd-job worker Panjang, who has become a folk hero of sorts in this city for his determination to cover every pothole he sees, is surprised at the attention he is getting and the support of well-wishers who give him cement to help in his patchwork.
The 64-year-old man also received food and two bicycles to help him move about.
“I am overwhelmed by these gestures. I am just a simple man who is trying to do my bit to prevent accidents,” he said while patching up more holes yesterday.

FOR A NOBEL CAUSE:Panjang fixing potholes along Jalan Maju in Johor baru using his bare hands.

“I got at least two bicycles and food from people in recent weeks,” he said, adding that he has given away one bicycle to a friend who needed it. Panjang, who had earlier refused to talk much about his background, said he came from a wealthy family in Penang.
He said he was a businessman once and had worked in Singapore for almost 25 years.

Panjang: Received cement, food and two bicycles.

“My uncle, who died some time ago, inspired me to do good for others,” he said. Panjang, wearing a tattered T-shirt and pants, also makes a living selling Chinese health magazines.
He speaks fluent English.
Last month, The Star reported that Panjang, who declined to disclose his real name, had taken it upon himself to cover potholes wherever he found them as they were posing danger in the streets.
Once while he was patching a hole along busy Jalan Maju, a motorist knocked into his bicycle that he had parked behind a car.
Panjang, who claimed to have started his crusade against potholes two years ago, had risked his life many times covering holes in the middle of the road without proper warning signs.
He said he has done odd jobs that allowed him to know the right mixture of sand and cement to use in sealing potholes.
He could not tell how many potholes he had sealed so far but said: “I have patched up many potholes around Jalan Maju, Jalan Serampang and Jalan Perang.”
With hands full of scars and a set of stained teeth, Panjang said while some people had warmed up to him, some continued to ridicule and throw insults at him.
“This will not deter me from carrying out my task and I am more determined,” he said, adding that he never asked for anything in return for his service.

Source: The Star - Tuesday, Februaury 7, 2006

****** 

The company that is awarded with pothole patching, sure, with employing Panjang, part of a solution is reached.

At least at places where Panjang  is able to reach with his bicycle around Taman Sentosa, the company can rest assured that there is no pothole that is awaiting death on that road.  

The Maid - Unholy Acts In The Holiest Place (7)

No Evidence Against Saudi Employer: Lawyer
Indonesian Maid Abuse Sentence Appealed

RIYADH (Khaled al-Shaei) The Appeals Court in Mecca issued on Monday a ruling to revoke the jail sentence imposed on a Saudi woman charged with torturing her Indonesian maid and to review the case on the grounds that evidence condemning the defendant was not strong enough.

The judge that passed the three-year jail sentence on a Saudi woman for the physical assault of her 23-year-old Indonesian maid, Sumiati Mustapa, had committed several mistakes that were enough to revoke the ruling, said the defendant’s lawyer Ahmed al-Rashed.

“We objected to the sentence at the Court of Appeals because several of its legal procedures were missing,” Rashed told AlArabiya.net. “And we demanded that my client be released on bail until the case is reviewed.”

Judge’s mistakes

Rashed explained that the verdict gave priority to public right over private right. When charging the defendant with human trafficking, the judge made the plaintiff and not the defendant give her testimony under oath while it should have been the other way round, and the verdict was handed down quickly.

“For these three reasons, the case will be re-opened, but in case the judge insists on the previous verdict, the case will be assigned to another judge.”

The judge, Rashed added, may have been affected by the media hype that accompanied the case along with the point of view of the Indonesian embassy in Riyadh.

“This is how he handled the case and I do not blame him, yet he based his verdict on civil and not religious laws and that is why we have the right to object to it.”

Rashed denied that his client had admitted to abusing and assaulting the maid and expressed his concerns over the imprisonment of the defendant, who is in her 60s, for almost two months without proof despite her health condition and the fact that she is on a wheel chair.

“My client denied committing the crime and the media reports that her son made on her are not true and not documented in the case files.”

According to Rashed, the defendant told the court that the maid has a psychological disorder and that she is the one who inflicted injuries upon herself, yet when the maid was referred to a psychiatrist and his report proved that she was sane, the judge considered this a proof that the defendant is guilty.

“The judge assumed that if the maid is sane, then it is her employer who did that to her because the maid works for her. He also passed the verdict in accordance with the human trafficking law and this does not apply to my client.”

Indonesian public opinion

Rashed accused the Indonesian government of trying to take advantage of the maid’s case in order to make financial gains.

“The Indonesian public opinion made Saudis seem like monsters in order to raise the fees for hiring Indonesian maids and this is what happened.”

On the other hand, spokesman of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Michael Tene objected to the initial sentence, which he considered very lenient when compared to the damages inflicted upon the maid.

Tene said that maid’s lawyers will appeal the verdict and explained that the torture to which Mustapa was subjected requires at least 15 years in jail.

Indonesian President Susilo Mambang Yudhoyono also issued a statement slamming the violence against Mustapa and dispatched Indonesian Minister of Women’s Affairs Linda Gumelar to follow up on the case.

Sumiati Mustapa’s case

The case of Indonesian maid Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa made headlines last year in both Saudi Arabia and Indonesia after the 23-year-old maid accused her employer, a widow in her 60s, of abusing her by beating and burning different parts of her body, especially her neck, left hand and upper lip, where she sustained severe injuries.

The employer denied the maid’s accusations and said Mustapa’s injuries were the result of a suicide attempt as she tried to jump from the balcony.

After standing trial, the employer was handed down three years in jail on charges of human trafficking.

After Rashed and the defendant’s other lawyer, Abdul Rahman Hajjar, filed an appeal, the Court of Appeals in Mecca ordered the General Court in Medina, which passed the initial jail verdict, to review the case.
(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid).

Source: Al-Arabiya - Tuesday, March 15, 2011

More about Sumiati Mustapa can be read here.

******

Shortly after Sumiati’s case came to light, another Indonesian maid,

36-year old Kikim Komalasari, from Mekarwangi village, in Haurwangi, Cianjur, was found tortured to death.

Her husband, a workshop officer in Sukabumi, was only home on weekends due to working outstation. 46-year old Maman Ali Nurjaman had, before her departure, forbid her from going to Saudi Arabia.

She was adamant of going.
She left home in June 2009, reaching Madinah on July 7, leaving behind not only the husband, but three children, 18-year old Yosi Nurmalasari, 10-year old Galih Permadi, and Fikri Agustian, 5, who has lung infection.
Since Kikim had already left, all Maman and his three children could do then, was to pray for her safety in the foreign land and be home again in Cianjur.

Nobody in the family then believed the youngest of fourteen siblings, was killed by her employer.

About a month after she worked in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, she called home, happy with her workload, although looking after five kids at a go.
She was happy to be able to travel, along with the employer's family during sightseeing.

In November 2009, she called again, enquiring about her children, husband and her mother, whose house is next to hers.
She assured her sister, Siti, who had twice received her call, that she was with a good employer.

Six months before Kikim was found dead, again, she mentioned of being with a good employer, when she called for the last time, enquiring about her children and husband's welfare.

****** 

Two days before the news of his wife's death reached him,

Maman felt the urge to clean the pictures of their wedding, which he had never done before.

Their eldest child, Yossi, dream of the mother returned home with a very big smile.
The dream was related to the father.
In November 19, 2010, the mother was found in a dump in the southern city of Abha.

Kikim’s neck was reportedly slashed and she sustained cuts to the rest of her body.
Signs of severe physical abuse in different parts of her dead body showed that she had been tortured to death.
Following Kikim’s death, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa summoned Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Indonesia Abdurrahman Mohammad Amen Al-Khayyat for the third time in a week.
As there are many Indonesian maids in the Kingdom, it stirred particular anger in Indonesia.

The two cases of the physical abuse suffered by the Indonesian maids, Kikim dead and Sumiati in a critical condition within one week triggered riots in Indonesia, and condemnation by the government in Jakarta.
The two tragedies had also promoted calls by Saudi activists to pressure their government to impose strict rules to thwart any future maltreatment to foreign workers in their country.
It further led to demands that Indonesian women no longer be allowed to work as maids in Saudi Arabia.

******

Kikim's sponsor is said to be Ali Said Al Gahtani from Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Her employer was held over her death, five days before the recent Eidul Adha, in the second week of November.

She angered him by her maltreatment of his ageing mother and hitting his handicapped children.
He used an aluminum bar to beat her for four consecutive days, and inflicted grievous harm on her, hoping she would provide better treatment for his mother.
She then fled his house to a nearby building under construction.

She sustained injuries from a fall onto building materials.
He found her at the site and wanted to take her to hospital, but she refused.
He then took her back to his house, locked her in a room hoping she will recover from her wounds but she did not.

After giving up hope that she would get better, he killed her with an iron tool and put her body in a garbage dumpster on a street.
She died from injuries, then thrown out of the house.
She was dumped in a waste bin, where police found the body in the southwestern province of Abha on Thursday, 5 Dzulhijjah 1431, November 11, 2010.
The body was taken to King Khaled Hospital for forensic examination, and the employer was arrested.

His wife was taken into custody for two weeks, pending investigations, and she was released after admitting that she knew what her husband was doing to the maid
She would stand trial for hiding information on her husband’s torture of the maid.
The Shariah Court is scheduled to look into her cover up of her husband’s actions, authorities added.

******

Insurance of 55 million rupiah had been surrendered to Kikim's husband and his brother, Atang Jaelani on November 20.

Her body, meanwhile, is still in the mortuary of Saudi Arabia.
The family is waiting anxiously to accord her proper burial in Indonesia. 

The Crime - Assault By None Other Than The ...

Woman Identifies Five Cops In Assault Case

PETALING JAYA: A pregnant store owner has identified five officers as being among her assailants.  Chow Soo Meng, 36, a mother of two who is eight months’ pregnant, picked out the five among 11 policemen in an identification parade at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters here yesterday.  She also identified one of them as the person who had slapped her and taken RM20,000 from her.  However, Chow said a female police officer who was also responsible for the missing cash was not in the line-up.  Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng who accompanied Chow urged police to do a thorough investigation.  “We have asked the Selangor police to take over the investigations which is being conducted by the Petaling Jaya police now,” he added.  According to Chow, at least 10 men and a woman who claimed to be policemen tried to enter her convenience shop at Jalan Perkhidmatan, Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh, at about 6.30pm on Monday.  Chow claimed that when she refused to let them in as they did not show any identification, the group cut the grill, barged in and handcuffed her.  “They refused to let me know what offence I had committed but instead slapped me twice,” she said, adding that the men then took several cartons of cigarettes, liquor, cell phone SIM cards and RM20,000 from her handbag.  She also alleged that they removed the CCTV system from her shop.  OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed later said his officers went to the shop to investigate claims that drugs were being sold there.  ACP Arjunaidi denied his men had stolen money from the woman but had instead seized RM15,900 as part of the investigations.  He said the money was in police custody and they were investigating if it was proceeds from ill-gotten gains.  “We will investigate her claims that she was slapped. If there is truth to her allegations, I will take action against those responsible,” he said.

Source: The Star - Sunday, February 6, 2011

******

Chia Buang Hing - Picture: Malaysian Insider 

34-year old Chia Buang Hing, a frame-maker, is just an ordinary Malaysian citizen.

On December 18, about an hour to midnight, he drove his wife's car with an expired road tax.
Chia's nightmare of being repeatedly beaten, his life threatened, relieved of RM13,000 and his business threatened with ruin began as he was driving from his house in Tropicana to Kota Damansara, where traffic police had set up roadblocks.
Having spotted the expired road tax, one of the police officers asked for his driver's licence and identification card.

At the stop, Chia claimed police officers had noticed a stack of RM50 notes totalling RM7,000, sticking out of his pocket as he was producing his driver’s licence.
The officer demanded that he hand them over.
He refused, and insisted he be issued with a summons.

But as the officer kept asking for the money, Chia warned that he would lodge a report.

Chia said he was carrying a total of RM18,000 that he had collected from his three frame-making shops that night, with RM10,000 in his pockets and RM8,000 in the car.
For refusing to bribe the police, the alleged assaults then began.

Chia tried to take the officer's picture with his mobile phone, but he was repeatedly punched by him and two other officers.
One of them handcuffed him and he screamed for help, but he was shoved inside a police car and beaten again.
There were several witnesses to the act, including a security guard and a friend of his who was in another car.

Chia was beaten at various points from the time he was pulled over until he was brought to the Kota Damansara police station.
He was outside a toilet at the station and seven officers kicked and stepped on him until he vomited blood and sustained injuries on his face.

Then, one police officer took the RM7,000 from his front pocket and RM3,000 from his back pocket and they threw it on the floor.
The officer became angry when he demanded the money be returned and he threw the remainder he was holding into the toilet and hit him again.

At about 3am the following morning, he was threatened by an officer that drugs would be injected into his bloodstream.
He was later assaulted again, by as many as five officers at once, at the police station and on an empty plot of land he could not identify.

Chia was beaten up until he vomited blood.
One thing he managed to do, was to leave his bloodied fingerprints in many parts of the police station that he had been dragged to. (Most of the bloodstains had been removed, but there were some under a table, behind a mirror and under a cupboard, which were photographed by police).

Only when they saw that he was barely surviving, as he had vomited blood and white foams were trickling out of his mouth, then they took him to Sungai Buloh Hospital.

By then, it was already 7am.
Chia was taken to the Petaling Jaya magistrate's court, about 10am, for a remand order against him.
He informed the magistrate of his ordeal but he was ignored.
The magistrate ordered him to be remanded by police until December 22 on suspicion of possession of drugs and weapons.
He was once again beaten outside the courthouse.

The police had wanted Chia to report that his injuries had been sustained in a traffic accident.
When he refused, they threatened to plant a blood-stained machete and drugs in his car and get him locked up for a long time.
The father of two was detained for five days.

******

Selangor police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah had said that initial investigations by the task force indicated that the reason for Chia’s detention is for suspected possession of heroin and a parang in his car.
However, Chia vehemently denied of possessing the weapon and drug in his car.

Chia is currently out on police bail.
He also denied that he was allowed to meet his family and lawyers.
He claimed that the police had not informed him that he could lodge a police report while under detention.

During that period, he was taken to a officer at narcotics department in the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters.
Since there was no case against him, the men who abused him were called up.
The officer at the narcotics department advised him to lodge a report and allowed him to contact his family.

He was then released on police bail and RM5,000 was returned to him.

******

After almost a month since Chia was allegedly held and beaten by about a dozen cops, he was supposed to report himself to the Narcotics Department of the Petaling Jaya district headquarters to find out the status of his case.
However, once he was there, no one attended to him.
He was told by a desk officer to return on January 21.

Chia now has more questions than answers.
* Why only five policemen were charged in court when he had reported 11 attackers?
- Mohd Azwan Hassan, Norzali Rosle, Ahmad Saifullah Osman, Alizulhafiz Abdul Ghafar are accused of voluntarily causing hurt to Chia in the Kota Damansara police station between 12.30am and 3am on Dec 19.
- Mohd Azwan and Norzali, who are under suspension, were similar accused of voluntarily causing hurt to Chia at Jalan PJU 3/15, Persiaran Tropicana, Kota Damansara between 11.30pm on Dec 18 and 12.30am on Dec 19.
- Lance Corporal Mahadi Adam was charged with committing the offence at the Kota Damansara police station between 12.30am and 3am on Dec 19.
- All of them pleaded not guilty in the same court.

* Why were the five released without bail?
- Deputy Public Prosecutor Amirah Mohamed Yusoff sought bail of RM3,000 for each of the policemen.
Counsel Suraj Singh, representing Norzali, and counsel Ahmad Zaharil Muhaiyar, representing Ahmad Saifullah, Alizulhafiz and Mahadi, objected by saying that there was no provision in the law to impose bail for summons offences.
Magistrate Nik Mohd Fadli Nik Azlan dismissed the prosecution's application for bail and set February 14 for mention of the case.

* Why was it that he could not get his car back despite him asking the police numerous times?

* Why did he has to pay for the towing of his car?
(Chia claimed the cops who rode with him in the patrol car had told him to pay the tow truck attendants for towing his car from Kota Damansara to the police station).

* Why did the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) in his case gave 'special treatment' to the five cops by taking them out of the courtroom via a different route, where the media couldn't see them?

****** 

Chia Buang Hing hoped the policemen involved would not be given preferential treatment by the DPP at the next case mention.
He was not informed of the day the five were charged in court, nor given details of the charges until a few days later.
He felt the police are not thoroughly investigating his report on the cops who had threatened to plant drugs and a parang in his car.

Because the police are tight-lipped about his case, Chia now lives in fear although he is considered lucky to be alive.

All because he refused to bribe the police officers, he is now scared as everyone is telling him that he will be charged, although he did not carry any illegal stuff in his car.
He wants to clear his name and he could not wait for the nightmare to end.

Chia hope God will help him in telling the truth.
Hard for him to find others believing in him after the alleged police brutality.
All he wants is justice to be done and his money back.

Chia would rather die than be defamed by the police.