M’sian lawyer changes perceptions with story of meth addict father
Twitter user and lawyer @farhanmaaruf_ recently shared a case where he acted as the defense attorney for a man who tested positive for methamphetamine abuse.
Aku ingat lagi dulu ada satu kes urine. Kantoi syabu. Kerja delivery pizza. Anak 4 org. No 1 dgn 2 kembar. Nak daftar darjah 1. Anak no 3 daftar tadika. Anak no 4 dijaga dua org kakak dia. Kakak² dia pun dia jugak yg bela. Duduk rumah sewa.
— Farhan Maaruf (@farhanmaaruf_) August 5, 2019
According @farhanmaaruf_, the man was a pizza delivery guy.
He had four kids: The first two were a pair of twins in primary 1, the third child was in preschool and the littlest one was cared for by his two sisters who lived with him. The family of seven lived in a rented house.
His wife had left him to care for the children on his own.
Bini dah lari. Sebab dia amik syabu antaranya ialah dia nak kejar trip. Delivery dari pagi sampai malam. Nak bagi makan minum anak² dan kakak². Daftar anak sekolah dan tadika.
— Farhan Maaruf (@farhanmaaruf_) August 5, 2019
He used drugs to enable him to make more delivery trips.
His work had him delivering pizzas from morning until night time. The drugs kept him alert enough to make more trips so that he could get paid more and be able to feed his children and his sisters, and put his kids through school.
Masa rayuan, aku siap cakap yg antara yuran sekolah paling mahal adalah darjah satu. Bayangkan nak daftar dua org serentak. Kerja delivery pizza je pun. Duit jamin pun pinjam Ah Long.
— Farhan Maaruf (@farhanmaaruf_) August 5, 2019
During his appeal, @farhanmaaruf_ pointed out that the man was living a tough life.
He didn’t make much as a pizza delivery guy but had to support his entire family on his own.
He was so poor that his own bail money had to be borrowed from loan sharks.
Ini lah antara kes paling emosi yg aku pernah buat. Bukan apa, kita tgk pengorbanan ayah sehingga sanggup jadi penagih semata-mata nak bagi anak² makan.
— Farhan Maaruf (@farhanmaaruf_) August 5, 2019
“This was one of the most emotional cases I’ve ever had. It’s the story of a father’s sacrifice so great that he started abusing drugs to enable him to put food on the table for his family. “
Tak semua penagih tu bersalah. Penagih pun manusia jugak. Terutama manusia yg melakukan kesilapan. Siapa kita nak menghukum diorang. Cukuplah sekadar bersyukur kita tak diduga sebegitu rupa.
— Farhan Maaruf (@farhanmaaruf_) August 5, 2019
“Not all addicts are at fault. They’re still human. Humans who have made mistakes. Who are we to punish them.â€
This thread highlights perfectly how drug abuse and addiction is so misunderstood.
For years, drug abuse has been considered a crime in our country.
It was only recently that the Health Ministry announced that they are looking into decriminalising drug abuse by removing criminal penalties for those found possessing and using small quantities of drugs for personal use.
The Malaysian government is only now acknowledging that drug addiction is a complex chronic relapsing medical condition affected by many factors.
@farhanmaarof_’s tweet went viral on Twitter with over 13K retweets at the time of writing.
Many netizens expressed that they never thought of addiction from an addicts point of view and empathised with the man’s situation.
Terima kasih atas perkongsian ini.
Satu dimensi baru untuk saya sebagai guru fikirkan apabila menyantuni anak murid (terutamanya yang ada masalah).— NadHF (@nadrah_harith) August 6, 2019
“Thank you for sharing this. It has made me realise that there is another dimension to helping troubled/delinquent kids as a teacher.”
Also based on this story, beri lah tip sbg sedekah kepada delivery guy yg bersusah payah menghantar makanan kita. Harap2 dapat meringankan beban mereka
— Mazlin B (@mazlinbaseri) August 6, 2019
“Also, based on this story, do tip and be charitable towards our delivery guys who go through the trouble of sending us our food. Hopefully we can help ease their burden.”
So basically, dia ambil syabu bukan utk kepentingan dia sendiri. Dia ambil benda tu sebab nak hadap kerja dia. Effect syabu bagi energy, focus. Tapi semestinya ada bad effect. Google sendiri tak pun tanya member korang. Biar bapak “sakit” janji anak makan.
— F (@Fablucenz0) August 6, 2019
“So, basically he wasn’t taking meth for his own satisfaction. He took it to be able to face his work. Meth gives you energy and focus. Of course, there will be bad side effects. You can Google it yourself or even ask your friends. The father would rather “suffer” as long as his kids can eat.”
betul , tak semua penagih tu jahat ! Dorang ada alasan sendiri .
— cik bungaa🌸 (@aboyypwncs) August 6, 2019
“This is true! Not all addicts are bad. They have their reasons for using.”
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Starving forensic investigator turned writer cause she couldn't find a job. Used to search for killers now searches for killer stories.