He lived in North London. Just last week, on the 6th of August, he was fatally shot by the Metropolitan police.
Mark Duggan was an alleged cocaine dealer and member of the 'Star Gang'.
His biggest mistake was to be carrying a gun - something that is relatively rare in the UK.
His friends and family held a vigil in protest over his shooting. Over 200 people gathered.
Unfortunately, this led to riots and subsequently, looting in a minority community which was already seething over the wealth discrepancy in London and what they perceived as police bullying.
Mark Duggan was not the most upstanding citizen in the neighbourhood, but his death was not tolerated by the community.
In another country far away, two young men (who were not entirely upstanding citizens either) had their lives snatched a few years earlier.
One was Kugan Ananthan, and the other Gunasegaran Rajasundram. They were in their 20s to 30s - very much like Mark Duggan.
But unlike Mark Duggan, very few mourned their deaths. Another life gone was not to be despaired over - after all, there were already 1805 deaths in custody, so what was another?
In fact, some even went to the extent of saying, "We work for our living, we don't cause trouble, avoid crime and make the best of our lives in Malaysia. Not like Indians. Get involved in crime, have massive protests and threaten the government and the police."
The fact that police are senselessly killing Malaysian citizens does not worry the average Malaysian. Or does it?
7 comments:
I think Amirul's death was an eye opener simply because he comes from an illustrious family and is the nephew of Maybank's VP. Again in Malaysia its about who knows who and who are you.
He was a gun-carrying coke dealer who got shot by police. The metropolitan police were doing their job - protecting the general public - and I bet most people in London are pleased he's gone. These rioters are using his death as an excuse to terrorise and loot the neighbourhood they live in. They are definitely NOT representative of the majority of Londoners - I can assure you of that.
There are big differences between the British police (and their relationship with the people they serve) and their counterparts in Malaysia - make no mistake. Therefore, to make any comparisons between them is not only futile but also insulting.
If the Malaysian police force had even one percent of of the professionalism and integrity of the metropolitan police, this country wouldn't be in the mess it's in and Amirul's murder, along with many others, would have been solved ages ago.
A. Londoner
who says we didn't mourned for kugan and amirul or teoh beng hock?
except that we did not riot,loot,arson and robbed people
we are better than the british!
A.Londoner, I Fully Agree With You!
Anon @ 10 August 2011 14:33 - yes, Amirul's death was an eye-opener, and Teoh Beng Hock too, but so far nothing much has been done. In fact, after TBH, another customs man also died under investigation of MACC. This shows that police do not care about public opinion.
Anon @ 10 August 2011 16:33 aka A Londoner - I think there were people who were saddened by his passing and held a vigil to demand the police explain themselves.
What really surprises me is that the police allowed a bit of disorder before they realised that at some point it was no longer about the dead man but more about getting away with crime.
BBC says:
Mr Cameron told MPs that it had become clear there had been problems in the initial police response to the disorder.
Former Cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind also raised concerns that officers were instructed to "stand and observe looting".
Never would the Malaysian police just stand by and observe. Even when making arrests during the BERSIH rally, they made uncalled-for assaults on those arrested as shown on youtube.
Anon @ 10 August 2011 16:55 - The whole nation must have mourned, but it must have been in a cin cai way because very few people even remember Kugan, Amirul or Gunasegaran now.
Is all that mourning why the Malaysian police continue to kill ordinary citizens - for a bigger outpouring of sympathy and mourning perhaps?
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