In the sixties two court cases appealed to some concerned public. But it did not go much further and therefore only reached the coffee shop discussion group and some intellectual chit chat.
This was a comparison between the fate of two men.
One unemployed father was arrested for stealing a bun right under the nose of the hawker. He was caught about ten feet from the shop and was hit very badly by a few bystanders. The forlorn looking man was sent to the police station and put in police remand until he was produced in the magistrate's court.
And for stealing a bun he pleaded guilty. He pleaded for some reduction of his punishment and because he did not have a lawyer to defend him, he was sentenced to six months' jail - for stealing a bun. He was unemployed. He had no money and he was desperate to give his son a bun. But, he was caught. He was a thief and he was punishable under the Penal Code.
The other case was a bus driver. He had driven recklessly and had killed a girl cyclist who was riding with an open umbrella.
Because the road was very crowded and he did not see very well, he mowed into the side of the road, pull the girl's bicycle to the side of the road. She fell down and died. As he had a good lawyer to help him out, he was not sentenced to a jail term.
His driving licence was endorsed for a year. I am not too sure of his other punishment. But he walked out a free and happy man. He was guilty of careless driving not amounting to manslaughter.
Two men, two different laws, two different fates.
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