Sosilawati's Murder : It is all about greed

By LIM SUE GOAN Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE

It was a blood-stained Hari Raya. The murder of cosmetic tycoon Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya was a horrible case exposing the human nature of greed and how greed turns humans into devils.

It started with the evil thoughts emerged a year ago. The two lawyer brothers, the prime suspects, and six accomplices allegedly planned a conspiracy by using a "land purchase deal" as the bait and killed at least four people.

They should know that it would be hard to escape when too many people were involved. In addition, four wealthy women were killed at once. They would sure leave traces. However, they were greedy and had been hoodwinked by money.

Sosilawati, who started on a shoestring, did not face business difficulties. It is believed that she fell into the trap because she believed that "land sale promised stunning profit".

It was reported that a plot of land in Penang was bought for RM25 million and was to have been re-sold for RM200 million. Therefore, together with her driver, lawyer and financial adviser, Sosilawati brought RM4 million for the deal (some reports said she brought gold bricks worth RM5 million). It is believed that the suspects killed them cruelly after finding out what they had brought with them.

The prime suspects are lawyers who own a farm. They should be rich, but they still murdered for money. Also, the woman tycoon would not be killed if she did not believe that the land sale would brought her attractive profit.

It was said that the police was able to solve the case as a suspect had taken a watch of a victim. They had taken the few million ringgit from the victims but still wanted to take the watch.

The murder is all about greed. It reminds me of a case in which Pahang state assembly member Mazlan Idris was murdered by bomoh Maznah Ismail, more commonly known as Mona Fandey, 17 years ago.

To obtain more power, Mazlan sought help of the bomoh and her husband Mohamad Affandi Abdul Rahman to boost his power and political career. Unexpectedly, the couple killed him out of greed, cruelly chopped up his body in 18 parts and hid them in a storeroom of a house under construction.

Before Mohamad Affandi was hung, he advised his son to be a good man.

Mazlan was an educated politician, how could he be so superstitious? It was because he was ambitious and wanted to boost his political career. Just like Mona and the lawyer brothers, he was driven by greed and eventually, met his doom.

Human nature has its dark side. Everyone might be greedy, many people are able to control themselves but some of them just let it grow and turn evil.

I found that more and more Malaysians have become greedy and made presumptuous requests beyond legal and ethical boundaries. Those who are powerful are trying hard to become more powerful and those who are rich are trying recklessly to become richer.

It has turned the country into a mess in which politicians are playing with racial and religious issues, officials receive bribes while the rich become opportunistic. When the housing price bubble bursts, they are going to hurt not only themselves but others as well. Greed will also destroy families and turn family members into enemies.

News reports are inspiring and they show us how people are not able to bear the desire for materials and resulted in various tragedies.

Sin Chew Daily