Are we a forgiving society, or should we?

I was not aware of the Ms Ris Low saga until one day, my nine year old daughter asked me,"Mum, what is boomz?"

She was having dinner with her cousins, and they laughed and joked about that the whole dinner.

The whole episode did turn quite ugly, had brought some bitter taste of cruel reality. I cannot help but wondering,"Are we a forgiving society?"

Sure, Ms Low did her part wrongs, she should have brushed up her English; she should not have medical condition which mostly caused her to steal (??? I wonder); she should keep her mouth shut, as advised; she should be much sober, if she wants to be forgiven and forgotten her past....

However, the media easily forgot, she is anyway a 19 years old, what more for one to bear to be dragged down from the throne of glory into the mud of disgrace?

It was media to blow her up one day, then thumb her down another day...

Even after she was forced to resign from the title of Miss Singapore, the media still find "amusing" to report more on the court order "she,(Ms Low) is not allow to shop alone....and she must continue to seek medical treatment..."

At the second thought, I wonder "should our society be forgiving? to what a degree?"
Social sanction has been one of most effective deterrents to unwelcome behaviour, that is one of sociological facts. (HS101, reminds you, soci-students)

Should she, Ms Low, be treated that way only her and time will tell. I feel extremely sorry for her. I would like to give her a chance to live, to reach her dream, to changer her life.... but I, am not society.

That brings back a lot of memory of our good old Durkheim, "Does society make Ms Low that way? Will society be responsible for her future, whatever she may turn into?"

Wish you an eternal peace Durkheim, as we still seeking the answer.

My sincere wish to Ms Low is to do her part. She has to deal with her own sins. The "I don't care" attitude and vain goal of life has to be forsaken. I hope she will learn to seek some more inner meaning of life rather than to be "a shining star and center of attention" for some wrong reasons again.

From Today, Oct 7 Wednesday:

Ris Low ordered by court not to shop alone Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday, October 7Send IM Story Print

Ris Low ordered by court not to shop alone
SINGAPORE: Former Miss Singapore World Ris Low was back in court on Tuesday and ordered by a district judge not to go into a shopping mall unaccompanied by a family member.

In a review of her 24—month supervised probation, District Judge May Mesenas also reminded Ms Low to take her probation seriously.

It was revealed on Tuesday that Ms Low had to re—take her examinations at the Management Development Institute of Singapore after invigilators found revision notes in her pencil box in August.

Ms Low claimed that she had forgotten to remove them.

Her lawyer, Mr Sng Kheng Huat, assured the court that his client remained committed to serving her probation, and would undertake not to repeat the mistake.

The District Judge also told Ms Low, who stayed silent during the 10—minute hearing, to continue with her medical treatment and medication. The 19—year—old suffers from bipolar disorder.

On May 5, two months before she won the pageant, she pleaded guilty to five cheating and criminal misappropriation charges, with 60 other charges being taken into consideration.

Over two months last year, she had spent almost S$8,000 on items such as gold anklets, mobile phones, lingerie and meals in luxury restaurants using seven credit cards that did not belong to her.

Ms Low, who gave up her crown last month after the scandal over her conviction made the headlines, will appear at another probation review in three months’ time.

Ris Low Effects

The Straits Time
Sep 29, 2009
Ris Low gives up crown

"MISS Ris Low has resigned as Miss Singapore World 2009, days after her past conviction for credit card fraud was exposed.

The organiser of the local beauty pageant, ERM World Marketing, said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon she will no longer represent Singapore at Miss World 2009 in South Africa.

ERM said it will be interviewing a new representative to represent Singapore at Miss World 2009 in the coming days and will announce her shortly.

The organiser said it has met Ms Low and her parents and 'they have agreed to allow their daughter to resign from the crown as we feel is in the best interest for the Miss Singapore World Pageant and Singapore at large'.

'We are accepting her resignation,' said ERM.

On Ms Low's conviction in May and her bipolar disorder, ERM said there was no way of checking if a contestant has a criminal record or suffering from depression.

'Ris Low was determined, well behaved and performed well throughout the 2 month competition and even went on to win eight special awards. This is not easy task to accomplish from a group of 22 contestants. With her good performance and beauty, she excelled in the competition.'

On her command of English language, which has been criticised by the public, the organiser said: 'We felt that person who made fun of her on YouTube was malicious and did not do her justice. The video clip was presented in a way to ridicule her.

'The incident was a one-time interview which misled the Singapore public to believe she spoke English poorly. During the Grand Finals competition held at the Shangri La hotel on the July 31, she spoke perfectly good English, had a good answer (short, sharp and sweet) and performed very well to impress the 11 judges that she was good enough to win.

'So perhaps her spoken English could also be an effect from her Bipolar disorder.'

ERM said it felt sorry for Miss Low but added: 'We cannot compromise on our contest rules, regulations and the image of the Miss Singapore World Pageant.'

ERM, which broke its silence only on Monday said it did not give any comments earlier to the media and press because 'we were taken aback by this incident and we did not have any documentary evidence to justify the allegations and could be faced with legal implications later'.

'Ris Low committed this offence as a young offender, and we had to be sensitive to handle any comments delicately where a young offender is concerned. The treatment would be different if she was over 21 years of age,' it added.

'We would like to add that this is the first time in Singapore beauty pageant history that such an incident has occurred. We had to be careful with the approach.'

It was quite an uproar of recent Miss Low's Pageant crowing. What finally turned out was to resign from the crown. For a 19 years old girl, that was a harsh reality.

I do feel sorry for her and hope that she will learn some lesson from this event. In Singapore, at least for now, people still look more inside than outside.