Testing Lampong Cucul…
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…
