The symptoms and the disease
Art Harun
I would like to congratulate the police force for a job well done in arresting 8 suspects for the church attack. Granted, the police had had a lucky break when one of the arrested person sought treatments for burns on his chest and hand, but the arrests would not have been possible without diligence on the part of the police force. Well done.
On the same footing, I hope these people would, upon completion of a thorough investigation, be immediately charged under section 436 of the Penal Code for causing to destroy a place of worship by fire. That section carries a penalty of 20 year imprisonment.
And I do hope the AG Chambers would successfully prosecute these persons, if a case has been made out against them in the investigation papers.
I am sure the Home Minister would be pleased to note that the police has done a great job. Congratulations to him too for under his tutelage the police has managed to solve this utterly ugly crime.
We must not forget however that the attacks on the churches are but just symptoms of a far more malignant disease in our society. We cannot continue to focus on treating the symptoms all the while without giving attention to the debilitating cancer that our society is patently suffering from. Without that treatment, we would soon descend into a deep and dark pit of racial disharmony, disintegration and religious intolerance.
