Tragedi Di Bulan April

           I am a mother.  And as a mother, I cannot think of anything more heart-wrenching than losing a child.  My heart goes out to the mother, and family, of Aminulrasyid Amzah, the Form 3 boy who was allegedly fatally shot by a policeman after a high speed car chase in Shah Alam back in April.  Losing a child is heart-wrenching, but losing a child in that tragic manner, well, I can't even begin to imagine that.

          At the same time, my heart also goes out to the said policeman, Kpl Jenain Subi and his family.  On that fateful day, I imagine that Kpl Jenain and his family had no inkling that their family would be thrown into this turmoil.  I imagine that they had started the day without any inkling that it would end so terribly, terribly wrong.  That a boy's life would be taken, and Kpl Jenain would stand trial for causing his death.  Upon conviction, he could be sent to jail for 30 years.  

          I was not in the police patrol car with Kpl Jenain that night.  Neither was I in the white Proton Iswara Aeroback with Aminulrasyid and his friend.  I do not know what transpired in either cars.  I do not know what was being said, or the thought processes that led to the various decisions taken that night.

          What I know are the facts as presented by the printed media.  That 15-year-old Aminulrasyid was at the wheel of the Proton, and it was in the wee hours of the morning (if memory serves me right, it was 1 or 2 am), and he was fatally shot after a high speed car chase.

          What I do not know, but really want to know are these:  here we have a 15-year-old, a Form Three boy, what business had he behind the wheel of a car?  What business had he to be out of the house at the wee hours of the morning on a school night?  And why did he drive away from the police instead of stopping when ordered to do so?

          Did Kpl Jenain have to fire 19 shots (again, according to the media) at the car?  Maybe not.  Did Kpl Jenain intentionally kill the driver of the car to stop the runaway car?  We don't know that.  The tragedy here is that a 15-year-old was behind the wheel.  If it had been a drug trafficker, or a child rapist, or a cold-blooded murderer, we would be singing praises to Kpl Jenain and calling him a hero.