KUALA LUMPUR: "Look me in the eyes and tell me that if you were in my shoes, and your son was intentionally murdered, would you actually turn the other cheek and let the murderer live?"
This is the question Leela Para has for those championing the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.
"Yes, you can say abolishing the mandatory death penalty is the right thing to do, but what if it was your child who was murdered in cold blood?" asked Leela, whose 20-year-old son was murdered by an ex-colleague and his friends in April last year.
The murder took place in an apartment in the city after her son, a trained chef, returned home from work at midnight.
"My son was murdered by this jobless youth whom he had actually sheltered and fed for 2 weeks. This was how his kindness was repaid.
"The murder was planned by the main suspect who engaged two friends to commit the crime. And they committed the crime when the other housemate was away.
"It was premeditated. So, unless you have experienced the pain and agony of losing a child so brutally like this, please don't tell me to temper justice with mercy."
Leela, 49, said her only son who achieved his childhood dream of becoming a chef, had so much to live for.
"He was barely 21 and had his whole life ahead of him. He had so many dreams of building a better life for us. None of which will be realised now.
"My son lost his life but the murderers may get theirs back? Is that justice?" asked the mother of two.
"I will never see my son get married and have his own children. But his murderers will probably get out in time and continue with their lives. Is that fair?
"Nothing will bring my son back now. But I will get some closure and peace knowing that his murderers have paid the price for taking my son's life. All I want is justice for my son."
Sufiah Abdullah, whose nephew was murdered, is aghast over the move to end the mandatory death penalty.
"It was first degree murder. A life was cruelly taken away. And now you're telling the families to accept that the murderers deserve to live?"
She said while doing away with the death sentence for drug traffickers and those who caused the death of another unintentionally such as in a fight, accident or in self-defence may be considered, there should be no mercy for those who committed first degree murder.
"As long as there was intent, they should not escape the gallows. I hope judges will ensure that justice is served to the victims and their families.
"I ask these "champions" of human rights, would you want the person who intentionally murdered your flesh and blood, to escape the gallows?
"Yes, they may get a life sentence. But they could get their sentences commuted, be freed and get their lives back. Their parents will get their sons back. We will never get our loved ones back. You call that justice?"
Lawyer, Christina Teng urged the government to take a few steps back and look at the bigger picture before deciding on abolishing the mandatory death penalty, and review and improve the legal and justice system as a whole.
Teng, who was a lawyer representing families of high-profile murder victims and was part of a movement against removing the mandatory capital punishment for heinous crimes, said it was important to send a strong deterrent message against heinous crimes involving loss of lives and put the lives and safety of the majority of the rakyat as priority.
She told the New Straits Times that reforms should be made to improve our legal and justice system first, where more often than not, many crimes remain unsolved and many criminals escaped punishment.
She also said it was important that the government put in place tough laws to safeguard the lives and safety of 33 million people and punish perpetrators of crimes.
"Send a tough message not to commit crimes or hurt or kill innocent victims, otherwise the criminals must face equal consequences as punishment. To remove the mandatory death penalty is sadly sending a wrong message.
"All this lobbying for removing the death penalty only benefits criminals but what about the victims, especially those who are dead? What about the families and loved ones of the victims?
"Who will speak for them? We appeal for justice and human rights of victims and their families too, because anyone in Malaysia can be a victim."
She added that a short jail sentence or a nominal punishment would not be justifiable for heinous crimes especially those involving loss of lives, including murder and terrorism, and would only devalue the lives of the people.
Teng said she was concerned that most judges would not use capital punishment when given discretion, adding that more detailed studies and statistics were needed.
She also said the government should not abolish the death penalty simply because other western and foreign liberal countries had done away with it, or liberal non-governmental organisations were pushing for it.
"Malaysia must uphold its own rule of law that works for us, putting the best interest of the rakyat first. We cannot have a weak legal system that only aims to protect criminals and ignore the majority of the rakyat, especially victims of crimes."