Death row prisoner repents and seeks royal pardon

BENTONG: With all his appeals rejected, the final recourse for death row inmate Hoo Yew Wah is a royal pardon from the Sultan of Johor.

Speaking through a phone from behind a glass partition and iron bars, the convicted drug trafficker said that after spending 10 years in prison, he had learnt to cope with the anxiety of waiting for his execution through Buddhist teachings and prayers.

“I have to accept responsibility for my past actions. I only went to school up to Standard Five (Year 5) and came out on my own to work after that. I was working at a restaurant as a teenager and was free to mix with anyone.

“My friends lived a luxurious lifestyle and I wanted the same. I followed them in selling drugs on a small scale and was pretty soon involved full-time in the trade.

“It was easy money and I lied so much to my parents that they did not suspect anything. They were so shocked when I was arrested in 2005,” he said in an interview with StarMetro at the Bentong prison complex here.

The 31-year-old from Bentong was sentenced to death by the Johor Baru High Court in 2011 for trafficking 188.35gm of methamphetamine and had since exhausted all of his appeals.

Hoo said his mother initially did not know how serious the crime was and that he was facing a death sentence.

“I had to keep comforting her, saying that I still have a chance through appeals but I have come to accept my fate since I cannot keep being a financial burden to my family,” he said.

Asked why he should be given a second chance, Hoo said that he regretted his actions that cost him his freedom and a life with his loved ones.

“My beloved grandmother and father passed away a few years ago and I could not be with them. If given a chance, I want to prove that I have changed. I want to look for a proper job and spend my life taking care of my mother,” he said.

Likewise for the family of convicted drug trafficker Wong Kok Chun, 34, the mercy of Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah is their last resort.

Wong’s mother Yip Man Moi, 64, said it was her wish that her son could continue living and one day spend time with her in her old age.

Wong was imprisoned in 2009 and had been sentenced to hang for trafficking 541.22gm of marijuana.

The two inmates were among 3,276 prisoners on death row in the country, guilty of drug trafficking offences.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said drug traffickers were not deterred by the threat of a death sentence as there were “masterminds” helping offenders escape the noose.

Malaysia Buddhist Counselling Association founder Lam Kai Cheong said reforms in capital punishment for drug trafficking cases should be looked into considering it had not curbed the crime.

“My suggestion is to place the judgment on whether a convict should be hanged or serve jail time at the discretion of the judges. Many of these drug trafficking cases involve a small amount of drugs and yet the offenders are still sentenced to death.

“I think it is only fair if the punishment reflects how heavy their crime is,” he said.

Lam added that rehabilitation and making sure the convicts do not return to a life of crime was perhaps a better solution in such cases.

“Once these inmates are executed, they are gone but their family members still have to carry on with their lives while suffering the loss of a loved one. The family members are the ones who have to pick up the pieces.

“Even if these convicts have to serve a lengthy jail time, it is still better to give them a second chance by teaching them skills and putting them to work rather than letting them languish in prison and then hang them,” he said.