Another gruesome murder trial

Singapore High Court released the judgment of PP v Aguilar Guen Garlejo on May 29, 2006.

There are a few similarities between the case of PP v Aguilar Guen Garlejo and PP v Leong Siew Chor (I have blogged this earlier).

1. Both cases happened in Singapore in year 2005. (September 2005 and June 2005)
2. The accused dismembered the deceased's body.
3. The deceased are foreigners. (Phillipines and PRC)
4. Public transport was used to transport the decease's body parts. (MRT and cab)
5. The body parts were thrown to reservoir or river.

Part of the judgment of PP v Aguilar Guen Garlejo:

"The accused then headed back to the Sunglade apartment where she systematically dismembered the deceased’s body and placed the body parts into a bag and a suitcase. The accused asserts all this was done while she was in a state of bewilderment. Her mind was still numb and whirling with shock that she had killed her best friend.
.....
On the following day, she took a taxi to Orchard Road and placed the bag containing the deceased’s head near the Orchard Road MRT station. Later she proceeded to MacRitchie Reservoir where she placed the suitcase near a public footpath within clear view, making no effort to conceal it. The accused cannot explain why she did this."

Is this a mere coincidence or copycat act? This should be an interesting research topic for the criminologist.

Chief Justice of Singapore, in his speech to the new lawyers, reminded them about the relationship between law and life. I found it very inspiring.

"The practice of the law is a great learning and a teaching life experience. You will learn more law and more about the law as you progress in your profession. The experience that you acquire from your interactions with your clients will teach you many lessons about life that you will not find in many other professions. Become a criminal lawyer, and you will see the darker and seamier side of life and learn of its harsh realities. Become a corporate lawyer, and you will see the profit-orientated and business-minded world, and learn of the human motivations that are driven by a materialistic life. Become a family law lawyer, and you will see the social problems of failed or dysfunctional families, and a side of life you have never seen before. Then, you may begin to understand and have more compassion for those who are less fortunate and the problems they endure.

Then, you may begin to appreciate all the social and other problems of society, as has been said often, from the womb to the tomb. In a modern society governed by the law, if there is a desire to help people to cope with their lives, the law is a good career choice for you. "

Amendment to Election Law

Bernama reported on May 10, 2006 that the amendment to election regulation was effective for the Sarawak State Election.

The full text of amendment is available at the SPR's website.

The salient points:
1. In addition to legal tender (meaning: notes/gold coins), the Election Commission is now accepting bank draft.

2. All counting and recounting is going to happen in the individual polling station. The margin for the request of recount has increased from 2% to 4%.

3. The practice of writing of the serial number of the voter on the counterfoil of the ballot is discontinued.

IPCMC (Malaysia) and ICAC (Hong Kong)

I was reading Jeff Ooi's blog on the resistance put up by the Royal Malaysia Police on the formation of IPCMC. There are striking similarities with the resistance by Hong Kong Police Force during the formative year of ICAC.

When established in 1974, the Hong Kong ICAC's main target was syndicated corruption in government departments - notably the Police Force.

News reports about police officers being arrested or investigated for corruption were almost a weekly occurrence in the first three years of the ICAC.

As recorded by the book "History of ICAC" (I have blogged this earlier):

"On 28 October 1977, about 2,000 people demonstrated at the police headquarters, while several dozen police officers stormed the ICAC Headquarters. After careful consideration of the circumstances, the Government decided to issue a "partial amnesty". "

The full text of the Partial Amnesty
The directive stated essentially that in future the ICAC would not act on complaints or evidence relating to offences committed before 1 January 1977. The exception would be those where suspects had already been interviewed (and allegations of offence put to them), persons against whom arrest warrants had been issued, and persons outside Hong Kong on 15 November 1977.Also excluded from the amnesty were offences considered so heinous that it would be unthinkable to refrain from action. However, it was stipulated that the governor should be consulted first.

The difference between the two is that IPCMC is a still-born. The Abdullah administration lacks the political will to bring the reform to the police forces.

New deal for foreign maids?

I am quite delighted to read about the news that there is going to be a new employment arrangement for the foreign maids.

The Government is going to grant certain rights for the maids in accordance to the spirit of Employment Act 1955. The Act is applicable for those earning less than RM1500 per month.
The maids can take their grievances against employers to the Labour Court. Labour Court is a cheaper avenue for the maids as each party has to bear their own costs.

Prior to this, they can appear in person or hire a lawyer to represent them in the civil court (magistrate court or session court). If they lost the case, the costs follow the event meaning the maids have to bear the legal costs of the winning party - the employers.

Secondly, the employers have to pay the monthly insurance coverage for the foreign maids. This is in accordance to the Workers Compensation Act. The Act is applicable for those earning less than RM500 per month.

Those are the progressive deal. Malaysians have to learn to treat their maids and foreign workers in a civilised manner. There are our helpers and not the modern slave.

What could have triggered this new deal?
First and foremost is the necessity to maintain the cordial relationship with the major supplier of the foreign maids, namely Indonesia.

Secondly, Chin Well Fasteners Co Sdn Bhd v Sampath Kumar Vellingiri & Ors [2006] 1 MLJ 117 is a case in point that could have contributed to this new deal.

Despite the new deal, I have been hearing about the abusive treatment on the foreign workers by Malaysia enforcement officers. Lih Kang from Suaram photo-blogged it.

IT revolution in Vietnam

The cover story of this week YZZK (Asia Weekly Magazine) is about the
IT revolution in Vietnam.

Here are the brief facts:
1. Intel has started investing in Vietnam. Current staff size is 13. Plan to grow to 1200. The new plant for Test and Assembly will be ready in a year or two.

2. Bill Gates visited Vietnam recently. Microsoft is going to invest in Vietnam.

3. To the MNCs, Vietnam is equally attrative as China. The labour cost is half of China.

4. Vietnam is going to enter WTO this year.

5. There are a sizeable Vietnamese community in the Bay Area, USA. They are going to be the pioneer and the bridge to bring the investment to Vietnam.

The conclusion: Vietnam will be the new star.

12% hike in electricity tariff

The Government made the following announcement

A new electricity tariff structure will apply to all our customers effective from 1 June 2006 following the recent Government announcement.

The new tariff is structured to balance between protecting low income group and sustaining the nation's competitiveness. Not everyone will be affected in the same way. These are several quick facts about the new electricity tariff:
No increase if your monthly bill is less than 200kWh (or RM43.60).

Click here for the full text.

My response:
The monthly electricity bill for a 180-unit flat/apartment is in the range of RM3000 to RM5000. This is to maintain the common facility such as corridor lights, elevator, water pump etc.

Although individual unit with monthly bill less than RM44 will not see increase in their individual bill, but the owners have to share the higher maintenance bill. Keng Yeik is making a twist when he said most of the users will not be affected.

Kallang body parts murder trial

For the past 2 weeks, Kwong Wah (the local Chinese newspaper) carried series of court report prominently in the page 2 on the case of PP v Leong Siew Chor.

Finally, the Singapore High Court delivered the verdict -- death sentence. The accused has cut the deceased body into 7 parts and carried it on bicycle and cab before threw it to different location in the island.

Part of the judgment:
"He made a few incisions at her private parts intending to cut upwards towards the chest. He then thought it was not a good idea and decided to cut across the waist instead. When he succeeded in doing so using the same chopper and rubber mallet, some of the entrails fell out. He threw them into the toilet bowl and flushed them away. After washing the blood off himself, he went out to get more plastic bags, some masking tape and a couple of carton boxes that used to contain computer components. He then returned to the toilet where he placed the lower torso into a plastic bag, put it into one of the carton boxes and sealed the box with masking tape."

I am going to read this horror story (judgment) tonight. Sometime, I think the law school should make psychology as a compulsory subject for law students

"Young" lawyer

In the legal lexicon, the term "young lawyer" referred to the category of lawyers who have less than 7 years in experience. A lawyer who has more than 7 years of experience can contest for a position in the Bar Council and its committees. They also can act as master to the chambering students.

So, the word "young lawyer" is not referring to the age bracket. You may have a "young lawyer" who is in his 60s.

Ayavoo is a young lawyer in the age of 67. He called to Bar last week. It took him 10 years to achieve his goal.

His journey:
1. 1996: Start taking "A" Level.
2. Taking LLB (London) exam.
3. Passed CLP in year 2004.
4. Call to Bar in 2006.

Read his story at The Star.

Profiles of DAP YBs (Sarawak)

DAP won six seats in the Sarawak State Election.
Five of the YBs are lawyers and another one is a full time politician (Kidurong).

The five lawyers cum YBs obtained their legal training either from Australia or UK.

Their profiles:

1. Violet Yong Wei Wei -- Melbourne U.
2. Chong Chien Jen -- Australian National U.
3. Wong Ho Leng -- Sydney U.
4. Ting Tze Fei - London U.
5. Voon Li Shan - London U.

Click here for their CVs.

Check out the blog of Teng Chang Kim (State Assemblyman from Sungai Pinang) for what transpired on the battle ground.

History of ICAC

I am currently reading the book of "The History of ICAC" 解密香港廉政公署.
ICAC is the acronym for the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption.

First chapter:
A top civil servant was invited by ICAC for further investigation.

He was detained for 48 hours (Malaysian law: 24 hours). He was released without a further remand or a proper charge. A few hours later, he committed suicide.

What was the reason he took his own life? Fear of prosecution? Felt guilty and ashamed?

The answer offered by the author: Without a formal charge and conviction, his dependants (wife and children) can still benefit from his pension. This is a logical explanation.

Pupillage in Malaysia

I found a good article on pupillage in Malaysia. The author is BK Fam, a young lawyer practising in Sarawak.

One of the tips:
File your Borang 1 and 2 at the High Court Registry as soon as you commence your pupillage. The date you file your Borang 1 will be the date that you officially commence pupillage.

Fam also wrote articles on Is studying law for you? and Things they did not teach you at law school?

To my friends who have entered short call: keep learning and have fun. 8)

I plan to start chambering soon. As of now, I am bogged down with my work as well as the preparation for my third baby who is scheduled to arrive 10 weeks from now.

Who moved his cheese?

I received an email from a disgruntled co-worker. He is a Canadian engineer and has been laid off recently.

This is what he wrote to the boss and the whole department.

"Dear boss,
You asked about how to get children interested in science and engineering…..
Well you could improve your chances by not laying off their parents.

Seriously, I think my children will be better off if they chose law, medicine, or business and not engineering.

I am not bitter, as the company has been very generous with their severance, and I have been lucky enough to find alternate employment. But this process has affected my children’s perceptions of what they aspire to do in the future."

His job has been realign and move elsewhere. I guess his job has been move to Penang. We can replace one Canadian Engineer with three in Penang.

I have been in this industry long enough to witness all those realign exercises. At one instance, the whole department was moved from London to Ireland. The reason is simple: Ireland offers an attractive tax incentive. The company tax rate for Ireland is 12% (It is 28% in Malaysia). That is why big name like Intel and Dell setting up their European office in Ireland.

A friend relates to me that his company name and ownership changed three times in five years (from HP to Agilent, then later to Avago) and yet he is still sitting in the same cubicle.

The classical example is Digital Equipment Corp (DEC). I took care of DEC machines in my first job. Compaq acquired DEC in 1997. Later, Hewlett-Packard merged with Compaq. Now, DEC engineers are part of HP.

Please read the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. The book gives you a good perspective of what happening in the global labour market. Most importantly, we have to make ourselves "untouchable" which is the highest level in the hierarchy of lifetime employability (not lifetime employment).

If you have reached that level, nobody can move your job elsewhere. Then, you can continue enjoying your cheese.

Consti forum disrupted in Penang

Dear CL and AR,

How's life?

The last time we met was 2 months ago. Three of us attended the forum "Federal Constitution:Protection For All" at Crystal Crown Hotel, Petaling Jaya. It was a 4 hours crash course on the issue of freedom of religion. There were 700 participants. Many of them were from outstation. Mr Yai Pe Keng, a senior member of the Bar, travelled from Johor Bahru to PJ to attend this forum. I have blogged the event. I also blogged the current judiciary pronouncement on the freedom of religion (A good question from Ronnie Liu)

The same forum was disrupted by demonstrators in Penang on Sunday morning. The event, scheduled to run from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm at the Cititel Hotel along Penang Road, was unexpectedly cut short to only an hour’s duration. It was reported there were 100 demonstrators as compare to 200 participants. The co-organiser, Aliran, issued a press statement expressing regret that the opportunity to discuss the conflict between civil law and syariah law did not materialise. For the full text of the press statement, please click here.

I think the demonstrators were misled. The forum was not on IFC (Inter-faith Commission).

The local newspaper (Kwong Wah) reported that Cititel received a bomb threat at 11.30am. It was later confirmed that it was a prank call.

A fellow lawyer, Stephen Tan Ban Chen, wrote a report on the incident. It can be accessed at Malaysian Bar Website.

The next destination is scheduled at Johor Bahru. We will have to cross the fingers to see whether it will be materialise.

Perhaps, the organiser should evaluate the possibility to podcast the event through Internet.
After all, this is a flat world. Nobody can hijack the event on the Internet.

Your sincerely,
Hon Wai
Penang

Three personal visits

Last night, I put what I learn from history into practice.

According to the history, Liu Bei paid three visits to the house of Zhuge Liang诸葛亮, and finally on the third visit, Zhuge Liang consented to be his strategist, as he was impressed by Liu Bei's sincerity, virtue and morality. This story has crystallised into a Chinese proverb called: "三顾茅庐". (Translation: Three personal visits to the house).

The confinement lady who has done an excellent job in taking care of my wife and our two babies told us that she may not be able to do it for us the third time. She is now a grandmother and babysitter to a 4 months old baby.

She is not an ordinary confinement lady. We treat her as part of our family. I have peace mind and good sleep when she helped my wife for the previous two confinement period.

In fact, my wife made it a point to visit to her house every Chinese New Year for the past 4 years.

We are going to pay her a third visit soon. Hopefully, she will work out a plan and be able to help us.

The new benchmark - Digital Railways

Sun Yat Sen, the father of Modern China, once mentioned that in order to bring progress to China, railways have to be built connecting the major towns.

In those old days, we may benchmark the progress of a nation by the coverage of the railways and highways.

In the 21st century, the new benchmark is the digital railways -- the fiber optic network.

This is what mentioned by Thomas Friedman in his book "The World is Flat".

He relates his experience with life examples on the power of globalisation .

I bought the soft cover copy last weekend at Popular Bookshop (Jalan Petaling Branch) in KL. It was a good deal, RM38, as compare to RM80 for the hard cover. I spent two hours reading a few chapters at Starbuck Cafe (Summit) last Saturday.

This book will be fit for my bedtime reading for this week.

I enjoy reading his other book titled: "Lexus and the Olive Tree: On Globalisation".

"You have a choice" - Aljunied GRC (Singapore) results.

The Workers' Party (WP) scored 43.9% in Aljunied GRC. It is the historical high point for the opposition since the inception of GRC System. I have blogged on April 29th that Aljunied GRC is a hot seat to be in the radar screen.

In Ang Mo Kio, WP scored 33.87% against the team of PAP headed by Lee Hsien Loong.

The results obtained by the WP demonstrate that voters are responding to the quality of the candidates and image as a whole.

The theme used by the Workers' Party is "You have a choice". "您有选择". Please click here for the 52 pages manifesto.

Word of wisdom from Mr Hei Yu-Lung

I came across an interesting interview on Sinchew Sunday edition.
Mr Hei Yu-lung (黑幼龍), the President of Carnegie Consultancy of Taiwan, shares his experience in making a mid-career switch.

He submits that the middle age group has higher success rate and freedom to make a mid-career switch than those in their 20s.

His arguments are as following:

1. They have accumulated years of experience and wealth. They have a more stable financial status to make such a drastic switch. Mid-career switch is risky as it involves drastic drop of income.

2. They are more mature and understand that the reason to make such a switch is not because they dislike the current job, pay or the boss. They have done the soul-searching.

3. They fully understand their strength and weakness. They are willing to listen to themselves and match their interest with the new career option.

4. They have come to a stage that they fully appreciate their own value system and willing to take a risk to find the purpose in life.

Mr Hei made a career switch at the age of 40 from mechanical work to training and consultancy in the area of human resources.

Praxis March/April 2006 edition

My name appears on page 13 of the latest edition of Praxis, the Chronicle of the Malaysian Bar. Praxis is an in-house publication by Bar Council. The circulation is around 15,000 copies.

I have blogged earlier that I have won the essay competition organised by Bar Council.
For the full text on the essay, please click here.

Taxation

In conjuction with the income tax filing day, I will blog a topic on taxation.

I have followed closely on the case of Teruntum Sdn Bhd v IRB (Court of Appeal). The written judgment is not available yet. However, the line of argument can be found in another High Court case.

I will blog the issue on double taxation under Real Property Gains Tax and Income Tax. Is there a finality on the tax liability?