Is Your Life Valued at RM50?

There is a common saying, “Justice is blind.”
If you compare these two cases, you may get the feeling that a life in Malaysia is not worth more than RM50.

Why?
In the first case, a man robbed RM50 and was sentenced to 12 years plus two strokes.
In the second case, a man stabbed a man to death during an argument over money and also was given 12 years.

If you consider the legal consequences of the two men’s actions, a layman may get the perception that the first person has been punished more with the extra two strokes. You also get the impression that RM50 is the value for a life in Malaysia.

The cost to the state (and taxpayers) for a jail term of 12 years is also high compared to the loss. If we take RM10 per day food costs for a reduced term for good behaviour of say 2000 days it costs the state twenty thousand ringgit.