As the media, politicians and lawmakers clamour for "justice" and argue for all manners of punishment, varying from castration to the death penalty for perpetrators of rape, we seem to have lost track of the hallmark of a law abiding society: justice for all.

I am referring to the acquittal of three men over the murder of a security guard in the Kampung Medan incident a few years ago.

The judge may have had valid arguments in her findings to acquit the men, but it is very disconcerting to note that to date, this was the only murder case brought to court in connection with the Kampung Medan clashes, and now it too have been dismissed.

Seven people lost their lives in the riots. Their lives mattered: they were husbands, fathers and sons to the families living there, and their deaths - how and why it happened - need thorough investigation, and the perpetrators brought to justice.

Otherwise, our righteous chorus of indignation at the recent crimes rings hollow.