A death that says so much about a country.

Recently, a man died in Malaysia.

Now, I wrote that sentence deliberately in that way, so that you would have the thought: "What is so unusual about that?". Well, in this case it was a most unusual death.

Koay Chin Cai was a 64 year old taxi driver, in George Town, Penang. At about 5.30 pm on Saturday, he was waiting outside a block of low cost flats, for a passenger. However, it was not a passenger who found him, but a stone, of about 14 cm by 10 cm, flung from the nearby block of flats. It struck him on the head, causing fatal head injuries.

Now, that is shocking enough. It is shocking that someone should care so little about human life that they would throw a stone from a flat, perhaps to dispose of some rubbish, instead of carefully placing it in a bin. Such carelessness, or lack of effort, had cost the life of a father and husband. However, what was even more shocking to me, is what happened next. I would like you to guess what happened as this man lay dying in the street on a Saturday afternoon, besides his taxi.

Have you genuinely imagined what happened? Please do so.

I shuddered to learn, what happened to this man as he lay dying. Somebody, some passerby, on seeing him dying in the street, did not, as you might expect, hurry to his aid. No. That unknown someone actually went through his pockets and stole his wallet and his handphone. They actually robbed a fatally injured man, rather than trying to do something to help him.

So, who was worse: the one who threw the stone - or the one who robbed the man? I think, ethically speaking, the one who robbed the dying man, is by far the worse of the two. You see, that person did what they did, knowing that he was defenceless and in need of assistance to save his life. The other person, who threw the stone, probably just did not consider the consequences of throwing the stone. If so, they are less ethically unsound than the robber...just stupid and careless.

However, we don't know what actually happened here. Perhaps the stone thrower and the robber are the same person. Perhaps it was a deliberate mugging. Perhaps the stone thrower intended to hit the taxi driver and derives some kind of kick out of hurting/killing/maiming strangers. We know this, however: Penang harbours at least one reckless individual and at least one heartless individual. In fact, that two such misfortunes should befall this man in quick succession, does suggest that there are many criminally inclined individuals in Penang, which is, reputedly, one of the safer areas of Malaysia.

Malaysia really needs to do something serious, about its crime problem. It is a lovely country, but that loveliness is marred by the ugliness of its criminal minority. The acts they are capable of are quite shocking and bring a worrisome edge, to life in this engaging nation.

I have noted that, on the two occasions, we have had to call police to our house, for break in attempts in the ten months we have been here (yes, you read right: two break in attempts, in ten months...a disturbingly high frequency of event), the police made no effort to gather any forensic evidence that would allow them to catch the criminals concerned. On one occasion, for instance, a policeman noted a footprint on the roof. No photograph of it was taken. On the other occasion, fence panels had been removed - but they were not finger printed. To my mind, this means that the police really do not have much intention of catching criminals - or, at least, are not sufficiently motivated to do what is necessary to do so.

On the second occasion, the police even refused to allow us to make a police report. Why? Because they said: "No damage was done". The real reason may have something to do with the importance of the neighbour over whose property the intruder had to have come. That, and the need, perhaps, to keep the crime statistics down.

We are grateful, however, that the police came out in force, on both occasions. Had the culprits still been around, they would have been caught. However, it would be good to see forensics being used to gather data that could identify criminals and take them off the streets.

As for the case in Penang. I hope that both the stone thrower and the robber are caught - and that both receive the maximum penalty. I understand that there is the death penalty for murder - and murder may be argued for the stone thrower. However, emotionally, I feel that the robber is more heinous in their actions...so perhaps, they should share in whatever penalty the thrower receives. No nation needs to keep on the streets - and alive - anyone who can rob a dying man. They should suffer the same penalty as the killer.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.htmlI also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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