Unless the poor are helped, the hungry fed, and the unemployed given jobs, it is always controversial to dish out heavy punishments for those who committed petty crimes and personal sins. Whatever the polemics, one can always argue some crimes may be committed out of necessity or circumstances.

If a society is very unequal, it is even dangerous to dish out heavy punishments when we can’t be sure the prosecution, the evidence adduced, and the judgment dispensed are above board and credible.

When a nation is inflicted with systemic malfeasance like mega corruption, grand larceny, poor governance and abuse of power, the focus to impose heavier punishments on petty crimes and personal sins is frankly quite misplaced.

I have issued this challenge before, and I am doing it again - name me a country where social order and lower crime rates are achieved through heavier and harsher punishments.

Heavier punishments can’t solve abject poverty, ignorance, inequality and exploitation which in turn lead to discontent, crimes and disorderliness.

Religions and religious authorities must get their priorities right. They must help the government to build a more caring and humane society. They must help to reduce inequality and exploitation, not accentuating them through ill-conceived notions and ideas.

If a society is burdened with hatred and discontentment, imposing harsher punishments on pretty crimes and personal sins is only going to make the situation more spiteful.

Can we not be so adamant and obstinate? Can we not be so sure ours is the best approach to building a better society for all?

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating unbounded Western liberalism here. All I ask for is more careful considerations of what we intend to do which should be based on studies, facts and empirical evidence elsewhere. Doctrines, dogmas and bigotries are not going to get us anywhere. Even the once mighty Spanish Inquisition, Crusades and Communism have become defunct.

Holier-than-thou attitudes are dangerous liaisons to be indulged in.

Malaysia is a very well-endowed country. We can altogether make this a great country without going into harsher punishments as the only means to curtail or reduce crimes and sins.

We must help, cajole and direct the government to get rid of the bigger problems. We must help to dispense more compassion, mercy, love and care among our people. Once that is done, the smaller problems will take care of themselves.