Here's my letter to The Editor of The Star

Hi. First of all I would like to kindly ask you to review the video of which link I have provided above.

I am 20 this year and I am currently awaiting my STPM results. To some, the opinion of a young girl like me might not be worth much, but I sincerely think that what I am going to elaborate in this email is really important.

From the short explanation given with the video, we can briefly understand that a guy who attempted to steal a guard's motorcycle at Kelana Jaya Giant Hypermarket on 7/2/2012 was caught in the act. He was then brought to a room where he was violently assaulted by the guards there.

I was enraged when I saw the video! Not because of the thief who was so morally wrong for trying to steal, but because of those guards who so viciously beat the thief!

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that a GUARD who works for the security of Giant Hypermarket does not have the authority whatsoever to hit the man like that, unless of course if the thief was being violent or was fighting back. But as we can see from the video, the thief was timidly squatting there at the corner of the room, not daring to even lift his head to the guards who kept launching blow after blow at him!

Who gave the guards the right to hit the man? They should have just kept the guy locked up and then called the police. They should not have the right to hit the man like that and with such brutal attacks no less. What if the guy got a permanent injury? What if he was killed? Who gave the guards the right to beat anyone, whether or not they committed any crime (unless they were fighting back)?

This just shows how morally/authority-confused those guards are. Just because they caught the man red-handed, that doesn’t give them the right to brutally attack him like that. It is extremely underhanded and unprofessional of them to hit the man before the police arrived! And because the guards were wearing the Giant uniforms, they represent how irresponsible a big company like Giant is over issues like this. And for a case like this which involves a man’s life, it is simply unacceptable!

I hope that the authorities from Giant can take action against these guards for committing such an act of shame. And thankfully this video was shot (by some random passer-by I presume) as it can be used as evidence against those brutal guards.

I know that the thief should be prosecuted for his act of theft, but then that is another case altogether. The police should be the ones to apprehend him. He should be put through the appropriate punishment and summons but definitely not the painful ordeal he was forced to go through in that tiny room.

I actually intended to call the police to complain about this, but I am unsure if the police would hear my opinions. After all, I am only a young 20-year-old girl. But after viewing the video, I am sure you agree with my outlook too.

There are people out there, teens mostly, who think that the guards are not in any way wrong for hitting the man like that. After all, the thief was trying to steal. But I would like these people/teens to be able to distinguish one case from another as assaulting a man like that also constitutes an act of crime! And it’s a far worse one than trying to steal a motorcycle!

Violence is not the way to solve any problem and we Malaysians should understand that. If we agree and let the guards off for such a brutal act like that, then it will just allow those guards to continue to act violently in future. This might be detrimental to out society because these people who were hired to protect us are in turn so vicious! How would we be able to feel safe having these vicious people protect us?

How can we feel secure if these people were allowed to continue to be violent? In any way, we should all learn to be professional and allow the appropriate authority to handle any such case. THE ASSAULT OF A MAN SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED.

I am asking for your help as the editor of such a widely read newspaper nationwide to publish this issue as a warning to any other brutal guards out there who abuse their authority. They should be informed that they are NOT ALLOWED TO HIT ANYBODY unless they were fighting back/causing harm to other people.

I also hope that this issue will enlighten those people who blindly agree that violence should be used to control people who have committed a crime, whether or not it is necessary. This is just wrong! Violence should NEVER be the answer to anything.

I don’t know how else I can get the attention of the public regarding this issue and that is why I am asking for your help. Please note that I am not doing this for any personal gain whatsoever or even because of any ill-feeling against those who are in the video.

I am just a random girl who came across the video one day and decided to do something about it because it was so unjust!

Thanks for reading, Mr/Miss Editor. I hope you understand how oppressed I feel for having such a rage inside me but having no means to express it. I hope you can help me share this with the public.

Jo Yee

PS : I hope they respond!!!