Kasihnya Ibu...

.....as part of the training that I had to go through to be called to the Bar during my intership was to do free legal services and we worked closely with the Bar Council...I chose to do Dock Brief, that was going to the Lower Courts to do "Mentions" as in mentioning or intoducing cases before the Magistrate or Judge or "Mitigations", you plead for forgiveness and in return plead for a lower sentence, so to put in the lay man's terms!

The mood in the courts....they were always sombre, sad to be exact, dark with that damp smell...those days the courts were in in the buildings along Jalan Masjid Jamek and opposite Dataran Merdeka....and I usually dread the days that I had to do my Dock Brief duties......

...once, after I obtained my case numbers and details from the Interpreter, while waiting for my cases to be called, I looked behind and saw  a few bald headed pot bellied men...."Siapa dia?" I asked the Police Constable...."Bapak Ayam!"....errr "Bapak Ayam!"....I uttered....they were supposed to bail out the pretty young innocent ladies (usually) who most of them hailed from China....hish....tak suka tak suka...I thought to myself.....  

...the other day....as I stand next to bars separating us the Court Officers from the offender, one of the young offenders asked..." Puan dah kahwin, anak berapa? Puan cantiklah....."...and the smell of them not having bathed and the heinous prison smell....I hated that too! There were once, one of the offenders tried to grab my hand...for whatever reason...I didn't know....

....and of course my duties being at the Lower Courts meant in terms of the seriousness of the crime and penalty meant that most of the offenders were those petty crimes like stealing, drug offenders (but small scale, for drugs the seriousness depend on the weight of the drugs) or the business "anak ayam"....

...one day I had to interview this young chap....he had stolen some stuff.....all the details I couldn't remember, I could only remember the cries of his mom...."tolonglah Puan, anak saya ni baik, dia tak buat..." Tolonglah Puan, lepaskan dia...saya datang dari Ipoh, ambillah gelang ni kalau Magistret mintak duit.......", while tears rolled down her cheeks..........I managed to get a lower sentence, and the mother hugged me..."Terimakasih Puan, anak saya baik, dia tak buat Puan".......

...I finished my duties that day and vowed that I would never return to do such job anymore, I just couldn't handle the cries of such mothers.......