Was just reading an interesting response from a perpetrator (or in the site's terminology, an "awardee") at the Parking Idiot site. I was rather disturbed by Anonymous aka Jon Hardwood's comments.
For the sake of fairness, lets look at the legal definition of defamation: The elements that must be proved to establish defamation are: (1) A publication to one other than the person defamed; (2) of a false statement of fact; (3) which is understood as being of and concerning the plaintiff; and (4) which is understood in such a way as to tend to harm the reputation of plaintiff.
In this case, clearly condition (2) is not true as Jon Hardwood clearly admits on behalf of his/her friend. I'm no lawyer, but I dont think there is any case for "defamation" in a stricly legal sense.
I think this is more a case of moral values. Does our moral values allow us to believe that its ok do something wrong when our intentions are good? In this case, attending a bertahlil ceremony? Or in another more common scenario, going for Friday prayers?
Another notorious Parking Idiot site is the RIPAS hospital. Perhaps the Parking Idiots there dont get clamped for blocking an ENTIRE EXIT because the authorities kinda sensed that the "awardee" was visiting a sick relative, i.e. doing a good deed. Indeed...
We can extrapolate this argument to various interesting scenarios. An extreme example, we need money to perform the haj (not only good deed but one of the pillars of our religion!), so we rob a bank to get the money. Its ok lah, cos the end result is a good thing, we perform the haj wat. Ok maybe thats an extreme example but that's what Jon Hardwood's supposed argument was...
Jon Hardwood also struck a sensitive chord when posing the question whether the site owners would post pics of awardees they knew or were related to. Well I certainly hope so! There is no room for cover-ups when it comes to Parking Idiots. If the site is to accomplish its objective, then no awardees are to be spared!
Interestingly, the naming and shaming game is not new in our country. I believe it is an approach favoured by many high level bureaucrats to get some government initiatives going. It seems to work in some cases especially where moral values dictate that its ok to not cooperate since the lead agency is not yours and you were part of the "task force" or "working group" or "executive committee" just cos you were nominated. Not cos you share the same passion or committment to the cause as the guy sitting next to you.
Anyway, was testing the lampong cuculs for any blown bulbs couple of nights ago. Looks alright from this end...
For the sake of fairness, lets look at the legal definition of defamation: The elements that must be proved to establish defamation are: (1) A publication to one other than the person defamed; (2) of a false statement of fact; (3) which is understood as being of and concerning the plaintiff; and (4) which is understood in such a way as to tend to harm the reputation of plaintiff.
In this case, clearly condition (2) is not true as Jon Hardwood clearly admits on behalf of his/her friend. I'm no lawyer, but I dont think there is any case for "defamation" in a stricly legal sense.
I think this is more a case of moral values. Does our moral values allow us to believe that its ok do something wrong when our intentions are good? In this case, attending a bertahlil ceremony? Or in another more common scenario, going for Friday prayers?
Another notorious Parking Idiot site is the RIPAS hospital. Perhaps the Parking Idiots there dont get clamped for blocking an ENTIRE EXIT because the authorities kinda sensed that the "awardee" was visiting a sick relative, i.e. doing a good deed. Indeed...
We can extrapolate this argument to various interesting scenarios. An extreme example, we need money to perform the haj (not only good deed but one of the pillars of our religion!), so we rob a bank to get the money. Its ok lah, cos the end result is a good thing, we perform the haj wat. Ok maybe thats an extreme example but that's what Jon Hardwood's supposed argument was...
Jon Hardwood also struck a sensitive chord when posing the question whether the site owners would post pics of awardees they knew or were related to. Well I certainly hope so! There is no room for cover-ups when it comes to Parking Idiots. If the site is to accomplish its objective, then no awardees are to be spared!
Interestingly, the naming and shaming game is not new in our country. I believe it is an approach favoured by many high level bureaucrats to get some government initiatives going. It seems to work in some cases especially where moral values dictate that its ok to not cooperate since the lead agency is not yours and you were part of the "task force" or "working group" or "executive committee" just cos you were nominated. Not cos you share the same passion or committment to the cause as the guy sitting next to you.
Anyway, was testing the lampong cuculs for any blown bulbs couple of nights ago. Looks alright from this end...
Hahahah!! Ada legal definition lagi tu on defamation ah. Okay, so far in Brunei we have been kind not to proceed with criminal defamation. If I may say so recently I've dealt with one but we advised for the aggrieved party to continue with civil suit. In this case, I would say the owner of the car could carry on with civil proceedings despite the fact that she/he (owner of car is a traffic offender herself/himself).
ReplyDeleteTrue enough,I know that this is perhaps ones idea of the best way to embarass these awful non-abiding law traffic offenders. I may suggest blacking out the car number maybe but somehow it would defeat the purpose. But scarily enough, whoever posted it up could be just a lil lawful suit away from being sued. OPPPPSS!!! huhuhu.. panjang kah tu?.. hahahaha.. [Exclusion clause: This advise will not be hold against the party giving it!! hahah]
Oh, btw, I like the lampungggg cucul.. its cooll.. was thinking of doing ours different this year jua.. dimanakan mbali cucul lawa2 ani?
ReplyDeleteSorry sorry I need to clarify something with all of you.. Sorry Mighty reeda, the definition of defamation under section 499 of the Penal Code is..
ReplyDelete"whoever, by words, either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person, intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputatio will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the case hereinafter excepted, to defame that person"..
Haiya our penal code really drives me mad lah! So British its almost Indian! Putar belit punya language! What are the exceptions in "except in the case hereinafter excepted"?
ReplyDeleteAwu masa ani macam2 ada lampu cucul ah. Yang LED ada, yang macam hos pun ada. I prefer the conventional bulbs lah for durability and ease of maintenance. Kan tukar warna pun sanang heheh...
Mamalobeng.. Can you please clarify this in plain english so that I can be sure that I have done is not (moraly) wrong. I want to be absolutely sure, legally, that I can post just the photo of the car with the plate number visible and not the owner. My english not so good lah..
ReplyDeleteIf I am wrong in doing so then I will start blurring them.
For what its worth, they are still parked illegally and all I'm trying to do is try to get people involve in something I believe would bring out the best in people and learn to be more considerate to others, parkingwise.
Thanks mamalobengs and thanks anakbrunei for your support (you do support me right? hehe..)
Reeda: So Sir, dimana deh mbali cucul ah?.. And awu andangnya law ani mbari paning, honestly, half of the legal jargons aku pun nda paham.. Motherland of India IS BRITAIN.. baru kita tau kan?.. you shud watch Russell Peters Stand up comic .. SIOKK!!! Plus, to answer your question on whether there are exceptions to defamation.. ada nyanta.. tunggu tah abis raya nanti ku explain...
ReplyDeleteMeterman: I shall try and be as impartial as I can in answering your question ok..Frankly, I don't think it is your intention to shame these so called 'parking-idiots' intentionally! (hahah!! oh no reeda is thiking more legal jargons coming ni!) Cos morally that would be just as wrong and that would make you just like them right? As the saying goes.. 'TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT'. This is my opinion anyways.
Basically, I agree that you should highlight how salah bisdurang ani parking di Brunei. Therefore you should be shaming the ACT of parking wrongly rather than pick on the individuals atu i.e its kinda personal when you show the plates. Plus, these people mite think that you mite have something against them PERSONALLY by displaying their license plates atu (that is what I got from reading that angry Jon Hoddard watever his name).
Lagipun Brunei is small, and in all fairness, I'll have to say that EVERYBODY in Brunei at least once in their lives PERNAH salah parking either intentionally or not. Double parking atu pun in law is salah. Tell me sapa nda pernah double parking walaupun skajap while another person sits in the car to wait for them? hmm..And ppl still buy PIRATED VCDS and GAMES right eventhough the PIRACY & COPYRIGHT ACT ada sudah di Brunei.. you get my poin on this?
I can't comment legally cos I mite have to charge per hour for that.. hehe.. No, but jokes aside, I would strongly advise that you black out the plates perhaps to save yourself from any future liabilities. Not to scare you or anything but being sued for something like this ain't that fun y'know. My opinion is that this would balance the situation and it would seem fair to all parties. At the end of the day, even though they are traffic offenders, they do deserve a lil fairness don;t you reckon? Last but not least, remember that justice is only served when there is fairness.
Wabilahitaufiq walhidayah assalamualaikum warah matullahirwabarakatuh!! (hehe!)
p.s Please don't quote me on this though..
Heehee, nda plang ku tau dmana murah ah cucul ah. Mine atu was done some time ago. Main betelipon saja and the price was by the meter including installation. I can give you the guy's number if you want. Tapi kalau kan DIY, kubaca di BB arah Ting Si King batu satu sebaris Angel cake house ada sale masa ani.
ReplyDeleteMeterman, it seems to me that mamalobengs has a valid point that perhaps shaming the act of idiotic parking and not the idiotic parker should be the objective. In which case, I think blurring of the plates is in order.
Brunei is small. People can still identify some cars by the interesting features like the "Mun kan gagas agatah terabang" or "HKS/Turbo/GreDDY/I'm ready" or "Rosmyzarzahimashaykimzimah" or some other unpronounceable amalgamation of the boyfren, girlfren, children, grandparen etc names' decals.
By the way, yes I do support the whole YPI idea!
Iabah?.. ada siring Angel cake house atu ah.. krg tah ku menyebarang jalan kesana meliat cucul ah..
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what I've seen that sign yang 'Mun kan gagas agatah terabang atu'.. HAHAHHAHA.. LOL.. lakak2 ku ketawa sorang dalam kereta when I first saw it.. heran pulang org sebalah menyabalah ah.. mengapa ia bini2 ani? cam org kana exorcised saja.. Seriously, bukan ketawa yang hahah saja.. i mean the real HA HA HA HA HA ones.. but somehow make sense jua that sign atu.. HAHAHHA!!.. and and and yang sambung2 nama atu pun ku nda paham tu mcm.. maybe it has the effect of SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICESPIALIDOCIOUS kali bah ah.. hehe.. Sorry ah mind me for being bibiran..
Oh noooo.. was just checking meter man punya site skali its been shutdown.. what happened?
ReplyDeleteOh.. I am so very sad.
ReplyDeleteDue to unforseen circumstances which was not entirely my fault, its gotto go.
Thanks guys for the legal advice. It's been fun and I'm gonna miss it (blogging i mean).
I'll be back, dont worry. Gimme a day or three...