It is troubling to read two newspaper reports of
29-year-old Muhammad Nurizam who was sentenced to 15 months’ jail last week for
committing a host of offences including sexual crimes in the Tanjong Pagar area,
“Serial offender jailed 15 months for
theft, obscene acts, molestation”; April 11. 2018, The Straits Times and “Man jailed 15 months for theft
and sex offences, The New Paper, April 11, 2018).
Criminal Legal Aid lawyer Mr Melvin Loh informed District
Judge Mathew Joseph that Muhamad who had lower than average IQ, has a history
of major depressive and exhibitionistic disorders.
In passing
sentence, Judge Mathew Joseph displayed much empathy and
called on the social welfare authorities to look into the repeat offender’s
case.
It is a known fact that an ‘idle mind is a devil’s
workshop’ and sadly, desperate times leads to people who lack support to resort
to desperate measures. Without key
social support, lack of love and feeling isolated, I am not at all surprised
that Mr Nurizam has to grapple with depression. More so when he was abandoned
at a young age and had to sleep in the void decks.
This is the grave situation which many sufferers of
mental illness struggle with every day of their lives. In addition, many lonely
seniors are grappling with loneliness and their lives are in jeopardy.
Thus, it is crucial that unflagging support comes from
the community and government agencies.
We just cannot turn a blind eye to the vulnerable in our society. More
so when the government leaders repeatedly give the assurance that they want to
build an inclusive society where every citizen matters.
Perhaps it is time for our Members of Parliament (MPs) –
both from the opposition wards and the ruling PAP party to go full time, rather
than serve part-time. All MPs, including the Mayors and their grassroots
leaders need to go on regular walkabouts to stay in touch with their
constituents, to better understand ground sentiments.
There are many elderly and sick residents and the
mentally ill, who are unable, for one reason or the other, to attend the
Meet-The Peoples’ sessions and those who are in a position to help must find it
in their hearts to walk alongside them.
When the elected MPs are out of touch with the ground,
more social problems will set in and this is happening – time and again.
Without my sounding superstitious, Friday 13 brought bad luck to me
today. I went out to post office and forgot to turn off the fire on the cooker
where I was cooking. Seems I am becoming very forgetful of late. The gas was on
for two hours, and I’m sure my PUB bill will go up. My pots that I usually cook
with had to be thrown away as it was badly burnt. (See sample of the picture I
took). Fortunately, the Lord must have been watching over my home or my flat
would have been burnt down.
It is just as troubling and a really sad state of affairs
that my numerous cries for help has gone unnoticed. And it is not that both my MP and Mayor are
not aware of my grave situation.
Raymond
Anthony Fernando
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