Not everyone deserve a second chance, really

Recently, there has been much debate over giving a second chance to people convicted of crimes. People in power and many online media users are asking for convicts like drug smugglers to paedophiles to be given the opportunity to turn over a new leaf.

For example, look at the amount of support the Australian so-called Bali Nine drug smugglers received even after Indonesia went ahead with its decision to execute them in front of a firing squad.

Australia upset over the execution decided to recall its ambassador while Facebook walls were filled with angry and disappointed comments.

READ:

Indonesia executes foreign drug convicts, defying global anger

Profiles of foreigners due to be executed in Indonesia

Just wondering, if the Australian duo, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were caught in Singapore and were executed in the republic, would the International world react the same way?

Would we still talk about second chances when it comes to drug trafficking offences in Singapore, which despite being a modern society and known for its Western ideas, is also well known for its strict stand over drug trafficking?

Or did the whole fiasco and the diplomatic row take place because the execution happened in an Islamic country like Indonesia?

Let’s come back to the local scene. We now have the case of a paedophile who is currently serving jail time in the United Kingdom after police found 30,000 pornographic images and videos of children in his possession.

Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin who was charged last November, was caught in possession of 601 videos and images belonging to category A (abuse involving penetrative sexual activity with children), as well as hundreds of category B and C ones.

In the UK, Category A is use to define the most extreme form of child sexual abuse involving penetrative sex with a child.

According to British newspapers, the smart mathematics student at Imperial College London was arrested during a raid at his home in Queensborough Terrace nearby Hyde Park on Nov 20 last year, while 600 category 'A' videos and images - defined by the British authorities as 'extreme form of child sexual abuse' were seized.

When the police raided his apartment, they found him with his laptop open, sitting next to a life-sized mannequin of a boy.

Despite the graveness of the crime and its heinous nature, a Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) council member wants to give Nur Fitri another chance by allowing him to continue his studies at any MARA institutions after he ends his jail stint.

MARA had awarded the student the scholarship to study in UK.

So, what are we trying to prove here?

If we really are compassionate, accept that people have changed and are willing to forgive them, then can we apply the same principles on others, say the controversial blogger Alvin Tan, student activists Fahmi Zainol and Adam Adli?

Would the authorities be willing to forgive and guide these people to a better life?

Yes, the offences nor the quantum is not the same but the question here is about compassion and forgiveness, regardless of the crime or sin.

A person with 30,000 child pornography material is more dangerous than a stupid blogger who makes fun of everything under the sun but are we ready to see it that way?

So, if we are going to forgive Nur Fitri, then it is only fair that we show our compassion to others too.