More of Common Sense, Less of Common Law

            I.WILL.SUE.YOU. Although Malaysia is a non-litigious society, however there is a public perception that the law can protect the innocent and also to correct the wrong. Whether or not justice will be served by an incompetent judicial system is a non-issue and best left to be discussed in some other post. Being a law student, I’m partially aware of the lacuna in the law and had a firsthand experience on how the law at times fails to provide justice for the wronged. Instead, a person with legal knowledge would know what he shouldn’t do in order to avoid infringing the law and be sued.

            This particular incident happened about a few weeks ago. It was a family outing to watch Pirates of the Carribean. As we were walking towards my car which was parked in a side-parking box next to the road after the movie, we found that a black Saga had parked next to it. It was impossible to drive the car out of the box and worse still; the driver was not in the car! Talk about having common sense! When the driver finally came, some 25 minutes later, my mum and I had reached our boiling points. The driver was a Chinese la-la female in her late 20s who had two other kids with her.  After making us wait for that long, she did not even have the courtesy to sincerely apologize to us and instead, walked straight into her car. Her excuse? “I went to pick my daughter.” And continued with, “Can you please move? I’m in a hurry.” WHAT??? You’re in a hurry and were not? Both my mum and I screamed at her as though we’re like some street thugs and there were also on lookers who were puzzled. Someone had to get the message into her skull. Use some common sense you b*tch!

            The issue which I wish to highlight is this. How can the law, in such circumstances be of any help to my family and I? Should we just sue her for the time we wasted waiting for her or should we sue her for the anger which she caused us? Can we sue her for her lack of civic mindedness? The answer would be NO, NO and NO. Her action definitely doesn’t fall under any provisions in the Criminal Procedural Code or any torts and courts have been reluctant to award damages for causing someone to be angry as it is a normal human emotion. Lastly, the law does not dish out any punishments for any moral wrongs (lack of civic mindedness). So what options do we have? Call the traffic police and issue out a summons? Considering the heavy bullet proof vest (beer belly) they are wearing, I doubt they’ll arrive in time.

             Since there’s nothing the law can do, I might as well take the law into my own hands. So I decided to slap her and pulled her hair. No no. That can’t be. I’ll be sued for battery which is also a criminal offence. Maybe I should use some derogatory words to humiliate her in front of public? No, can’t do ‘cause I’ll be liable for defamation. Well, I might as well just threaten her that some gangster will come looking for her. Again, the law prohibits it and I’ll be liable for assault. This is getting frustrating. Hmmm. If I can’t touch her, I’ll just scratch her car, break the windscreen or throw paint onto her car. I can’t because then I’ll be sued for interference with goods.

            I think you’ve finally got the point. You see, the law is something to be feared off but it is evident in situations like this that the law fails to operate. Some might view such cases as petty and not worth to rant about but I still feel that having knowledge of the law does not necessary equip you with a sword where you can bring a suit against other individuals but acts as a shield to prevent you from doing anything silly in heated moments which can turn the tide against you. It sure helps if society would just have some common sense in them and respect other road users. You don’t need legal knowledge or the principles of common law at the back of your hand to tell you that you shouldn’t obstruct other road users. Two words. Common sense!

*On a final note, I did get a lil' revenge by letting the air out of her tires. By the time she got back, the tires were totally flat. Sue me if you want to. I bet the court would find it hard to quantify the amount and cost of the air I let out. If anything, the currency I'm paying is the air let out from my arse!