YOURSAY | 'RM150k being spent on hired hands only raises more questions.'

Muhyiddin: Developer's lawyers hired men to secure Seafield temple

The Wakandan: Thank you Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for the disclosure. This is an apt example of the rich bullying the weak by using intimidating gangster ah long (loan shark) tactics.

This was what the railway barons of the Wild West did in evicting the Native Americans from their lands, so that railways could be built.

This is a very despicable act, in which the motive is money and profit without taking into account the human aspect that is involved in the development.

The lawyers concerned, if it is true, were playing a very dangerous game because their actions could have inflamed racial conflict. The mastermind should be punished harshly, because this is not just a crime of intimidation, but involves national security as well.

Simple Malaysian: Good work by the police and home minister.

While the government is painstakingly trying to eradicate such acts, professional people are allegedly trying to disrupt national security. The seriousness of the matter demands that they face the full force of the law, with no compromise.

To make matters worse, other irresponsible parties are getting involved and causing more disharmony among the races.

I am also extremely interested to know if the developers will continue to have these lawyers on their panel. It will reflect on the sincerity of the statements being issued by the developers.

For now, let’s take it at face value that the developers had no involvement and were unaware of the actions of the lawyers concerned.

However, RM150,000 being spent by the lawyers, either on their own accord or otherwise, leaves us with more questions to be asked. I am confident that police intelligence will get to the bottom of this. Please do not leave any stones unturned.

Wira: Please name and charge the lawyers. Strike them off the Bar roll. Investigate if the lawyers were acting on the instructions of the developer.

Sunshine: This totally unnecessary incident allegedly triggered by the developer’s lawyers using a paid group of seemingly mostly Malays to confront Hindu devotees could have escalated into a very unfortunate racial conflict.

Now that the actual facts of the confrontation and consequent injuries following the melee are unravelling, the police should move quickly to deal resolutely with the alleged perpetrators.

Under present sociopolitical circumstances, undesirable elements and select groups spoiling for a fight for ulterior motives could be waiting to exploit such instances.

Jehangir: If it is true that these are representatives of the developer, then a court judgment should reverse the earlier decision of granting the land to the developer.

Just grant the land to the temple immediately. The tension will immediately be defused.

Let this also be an example to greedy developers. We've had enough of them – destroying hills, greens, trees, our air, neighbourhoods. Not forgetting the danger they bring with landslides, floods, pollution and traffic congestion.

Anonymous 728021502366367: This practice is not new. The poor have always been marginalised in many instances whereby land is forcefully acquired by developers. Heads must roll. This is ‘New Malaysia.’

Hope: This was a very serious crime to play up racial emotions, not to mention damage to property and possibly even resulting in the loss of a life. I hope our authorities take stern action against these lawyers for knowingly breaking the law.

If further investigations show that the developer was behind this, maybe even revoke the developer’s licence. At the very least, confiscate their piece of land and let the temple remain where it is.

Hmmm: A full investigation must be made and the results must be made public. 'Mobs for hire' are not new in Malaysia, and the people behind it must be charged. We cannot assume anything until the whole truth is revealed.

At the moment, it looks like there is a tendency to blame PAS and link this to the rally against the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd). Until the truth is revealed, we cannot exclude the possibility that the political enemies of PAS are behind this in an attempt to discredit them.

The government must go further and root out the whole system of gangster politics. Whether or not they do this may show the rakyat to what extent members of the government are themselves are involved in the system. The press should conduct an independent investigation if the government does not move.

David Dass: This is really serious, to think that lawyers would be involved in something as sensitive and serious as this. The police have acted fast. And this statement by the home minister should calm things down.

Mighty Bear: These lawyers should be disbarred. The law firm they belong to should be disclosed and investigated fully until the responsible partners are held accountable for this criminal act.

Client-attorney privilege no longer applies when criminal conduct comes into play by a lawyer (as exemplified by the much-publicised case of US President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen) and as such all client information should be available to the authorities.

Next, the developer's licence should be suspended, and a full investigation should be conducted into all their projects. This should include the company, its subsidiaries, its parent/ owning entities, both past and present.

All relevant guilty persons should be arrested. The rioters should all be charged as well, but the 'real' criminals are the masterminds.

Unless 'real' action is taken, it would be hard to bring 'real' closure to this incident. Comprehensive actions lead to comprehensive closure.

Hplooi: A fundamental creed of a registered lawyer is never to break the law in the course of his or her duty as an officer of the court, and in providing advice to their clients, never to provide advice that breaks the law.

It doesn't matter if the client is an honest man or a criminal. Lawyers caught doing so can and should be struck off the register.

SV: If the lawyers acted on their own, does this mean they paid the RM150,000 from their own accounts?

Do lawyers ever do such a thing without the knowledge and advice of their client? If so, the company and the lawyers in question must be barred from practice.

Quo Vadis: Thank you minister, for the speedy investigation, unlike the dithering in the past. Can all these people be charged speedily so that justice will also be seen to be done, please?

The intrusion, the anger, the retaliation and the damage to human relationships and peace are unpardonable by any standards.

Please, minister, bring them to justice speedily to placate hurts suffered so unnecessarily in the engineered turmoil, and as a clear unambiguous warning to other perpetrators lurking in the wings that the Harapan government now in place will brook no nonsense from any quarter. Throw the book at them.

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