Pirates of Penang (Part 2)
Tonight I paid a visit to the police station which is right across the street from the Tuesday night Malay market. I invited Kelly to join me but she declined, still feeling a bit scared about the rumors she heard about the pirate gangs that kill anyone who tries to stop them.
I was greeted by a friendly Malay police officer who spoke good English. This is the gist of our conversation:
Me: I'm curious why you allow people to sell pirated movies and software. Across the street is a Malay market and I can see the people from here. Is it illegal to sell to pirated movies and software?
Mohamad: Yes.
Me: So why don't you arrest them?
Mohamad: I would have to instruct an officer to arrest them and ... (then he mumbled something I didn't understand)
Me: I am from the US and I work in the movie and software industry and these people are stealing from me. I'm angry. I want it stopped. I earn less money because of them. They are taking my money. They are criminals and I want them arrested. I want this piracy stopped. I see ten stores in the Prangin mall selling pirated movies and software. I see ten stores at the Bukit Jambul mall selling pirated movies and software. Every market that I visit, I see people selling pirated movies and software. The market tonight across the street has 3 different stands selling pirated movies. You can see one right there (I pointed and he looked).
Mohamad: I know but there is nothing I can do. I will give you some numbers to call so you can ask about this. This is not my area of concern. I know that the government has an agency that handles this problem. They fight the problem daily and make many arrests.
I wrote down 3 phone numbers and a name of someone to talk to, then we spoke casually for awhile about where I come from and why I'm here, then I left ... and there was Kelly waiting for me. Once again she had followed me.
I wondered if maybe the local police were taking bribes. I hear the pirates make a lot of money and can afford to pay off the police so they're happy, the people who buy the pirated movies and DVDs are happy, the pirates are happy ... everyone's happy.
We strolled into the market and checked out the pirated DVD movies. They had all the latest movies. Muslim woman were selling them and I thought to myself, these are religious people who are aware that they are breaking the law. I wonder how they justify being criminals and being dishonest when they pray 5 times a day and cover their hair and wear clothes that mask their figure. To be a Muslim in Malaysia is very hard-core and yet they have no problem making and selling pirated DVDs.
Would these woman take out a contract to kill me if they knew I was trying to shut them down??? If I do succeed in stopping the sale of pirated movies and software in my this small fishing village of Teluk Kumbar, will I become a target?
It's a good thing I'm leaving Penang soon! The rumors might just be true.
I was greeted by a friendly Malay police officer who spoke good English. This is the gist of our conversation:
Me: I'm curious why you allow people to sell pirated movies and software. Across the street is a Malay market and I can see the people from here. Is it illegal to sell to pirated movies and software?
Mohamad: Yes.
Me: So why don't you arrest them?
Mohamad: I would have to instruct an officer to arrest them and ... (then he mumbled something I didn't understand)
Me: I am from the US and I work in the movie and software industry and these people are stealing from me. I'm angry. I want it stopped. I earn less money because of them. They are taking my money. They are criminals and I want them arrested. I want this piracy stopped. I see ten stores in the Prangin mall selling pirated movies and software. I see ten stores at the Bukit Jambul mall selling pirated movies and software. Every market that I visit, I see people selling pirated movies and software. The market tonight across the street has 3 different stands selling pirated movies. You can see one right there (I pointed and he looked).
Mohamad: I know but there is nothing I can do. I will give you some numbers to call so you can ask about this. This is not my area of concern. I know that the government has an agency that handles this problem. They fight the problem daily and make many arrests.
I wrote down 3 phone numbers and a name of someone to talk to, then we spoke casually for awhile about where I come from and why I'm here, then I left ... and there was Kelly waiting for me. Once again she had followed me.
I wondered if maybe the local police were taking bribes. I hear the pirates make a lot of money and can afford to pay off the police so they're happy, the people who buy the pirated movies and DVDs are happy, the pirates are happy ... everyone's happy.
We strolled into the market and checked out the pirated DVD movies. They had all the latest movies. Muslim woman were selling them and I thought to myself, these are religious people who are aware that they are breaking the law. I wonder how they justify being criminals and being dishonest when they pray 5 times a day and cover their hair and wear clothes that mask their figure. To be a Muslim in Malaysia is very hard-core and yet they have no problem making and selling pirated DVDs.
Would these woman take out a contract to kill me if they knew I was trying to shut them down??? If I do succeed in stopping the sale of pirated movies and software in my this small fishing village of Teluk Kumbar, will I become a target?
It's a good thing I'm leaving Penang soon! The rumors might just be true.
posted by Patrick Coston at 7:09 AM
2 Comments:
Hi Patrick,
You have been doing the right thing, I guess. But this "piracy war" should start from the root, not the fruits. Those small shops are just the fruits. The root of all of these piracy things are those who have the access to the original stuff (movie, music, software, etc) and access to the technology to clone millions of them. (These people are also rich, not Robinhood)
See here http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/22/asia/AS-ODD-Malaysia-Dog-Bounty.php
and you should see some light on who's to fight against.
When the source is stopped, the rest is history.
So now, you said they steal from you. How best you have protected your so-called industry? Looking at those pirated stuff, they are good quality ones. Don't you wonder...?
Wow,Patrick.You seriously suck at knowing what is pirated and what is original, do you ? I bought a few pirated DVDs back in my day and the quality sucks like shit. Yes, the police here is corrupted and take bribes but you forgot to see the other picture there. Ever since I've got wind of Furious 7 coming out, I was so hyped up I've even invited a LOT of people to watch with me after school. But I can't watch it because it's 18 and the TRAILER and the POSTER says PG-13. I got so sad until I cried 24/7. The next day, I've heard that all of my friends have finished watching the film. These Malaysian people can suck Satan's balls. Even my headmistress said that all Chinese are pigs because a door/chair/table is broken and Indians love to get fat,smoke a lot and date. Somehow, dating is illegal. 90 percent of Muslims in my school date and smoke a lot and my headmistress is a Muslim. Plus, they've introduced a new thing called GST *Government Service Tax* but the majority of the people in Malaysia loves to abuse this tax and squeeze the citizens to death. I haven't even talk about games yet. They almost succeeded in banning Angry Birds because the enemies in the game are pigs. They even TRIED to BAN FACEBOOK because according to Malaysia, ISIS used Facebook to communicate with their people in this country. There are tons of gangsters in this country and the police can't stop them. Even the Sultan's wife has tons of jewelry and they can't use the money to donate for victims of flooding, bulling and hunger. This country sucks, without a doubt. Malaysia is the last place I wanna go but I'm in Malaysia. If there's any way I could get out of this fucking hellhole country, I would take it.
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