During my younger days as a reporter covering the crime beat, I managed to develop the innate ability to read documents upside down.
I was also able to size up important details with a good memory.
Getting good crime stories those days required more than just attending press conferences.
We need to establish personal contacts with policemen from all ranks to get tip offs. But sometimes my contact was not in a talkative mood as he could be overwhelmed with workloads.
When that happened, I would sit in front of his desk and chat casually while my eyes started to scan and zero in on the crime reports before him.
Apart from a good memory, I had to be able to read the inverted documents on the officer’s desk. I knew that all I needed to do was to memorise the address of the crime scene, the victim’s name and the section of the Penal Code in which the crime was categorised.
Once this mission was accomplished, I would say a casual goodbye to the officer, check the particular section of the Penal Code to weigh the severity of the crime and head straight to the crime scene to interview the victim for the story.
But such a skill got me into unexpected trouble one day. During one of my regular rounds at the then Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent in Jalan Bandar many years ago, I sat in front of the officer’s desk at the serious crime section.
As usual, while chatting, my eyes began to surreptitiously scan a freshly typed report on a crime that had taken place the previous day.
I memorised the name of the complainant , the address of the crime scene and the section of the Penal Code that classified the crime.
Staring directly at me was Section 377 (https://m.malaysiakini.com/columns/525616) ( https://ccid.rmp.gov.my/Laws/Act_574_Panel_Code_Malaysia.pdf )
With my little legal knowledge, I searched my mind what this section meant but drew a blank. Excitement started to mount and I was eager to say farewell to the officer to look up the section.
When I ran through the Penal Code, my adrenalin rose because Section 377 (https://m.malaysiakini.com/columns/525616 ) ( https://ccid.rmp.gov.my/Laws/Act_574_Panel_Code_Malaysia.pdf ) of the Penal Code referred to carnal intercourse with an animal. It just didn’t make sense.
But when I began looking at Section 377a and 377b, (https://m.malaysiakini.com/columns/525616)( https://ccid.rmp.gov.my/Laws/Act_574_Panel_Code_Malaysia.pdf )it began to shed some light because these too sections specified carnal intercourse with another person against the order of nature.
My intuition told me that perhaps a robbery had taken place and a victim was sodomised.
As I sped to the crime scene eager to interview the victims, I was already imagining tomorrow’s headlines.
On reaching the address, which happened to be a goldsmith shop in Jalan Pudu, I began questioning the victims. Yes, indeed a substantial amount of gold ornaments had been looted the previous night.
But alas, no one was telling me about any victim being sodomised. Yet this point was the most important to deserve a front page headline.
Sodomy was hardly heard of in the late 1970s. In fact , I don’t remember reading such stories. So, here I was with the biggest news of the year and not knowing how to broach the subject.
When I finally plucked the courage to pose the inevitable question, I was met with angry stares from the staff. I was literally chased out of the shop.
Still not satisfied with my finding, I went back to the police station and waited until the particular officer was in the mood to talk.
He told me that yes, a robbery had taken place the previous night but no, no one had been sodomised. Unable to control my curiosity, I told him that his typewritten report classified the case as Section 377.
The officer then pulled out the report , looked at it and nonchalantly said : “ Oh , typing error. Should be section 397. Thanks.” Section 397 (https://ccid.rmp.gov.my/Laws/Act_574_Panel_Code_Malaysia.pdf ) of the Penal Code covered armed robbery.
This story illustrates the consequences of making the wrong assumptions. In later years I would always tell my staff never to assume because the word when broken down, will actually make an “ ass out of u and me “.
At least , I took the trouble to verify the facts, unlike a Chinese vernacular newspaper which one day carried a sensational headline that an 80-year-old grandmother had been robbed, raped and murdered.
Indeed, the grandmother’s body was found near a rubbish dump with her pants pulled down to her knees. With that, the reporter assumed that she was robbed, raped and murdered.
When I finally got to the bottom of it, the suspect was actually trying to hide the body after killing her. The easiest way was to grasp both her legs and pull her to a secluded spot. In the process, her pants came off.
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