Former DAP assemblyman jailed for rape: A victory for Reformasi in the eyes of the Working Class

Former DAP assemblyman jailed for rape: A victory for Reformasi in the eyes of the Working Class


4 Oct 2025 • 12:00 PM MYT



TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher

Image credit: Sinar Daily


After six long years, an Indonesian maid has finally received the justice she deserved. The man who raped her, her employer and former Tronoh assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong, has begun serving an eight-year prison sentence at Kajang prison and will face two strokes of the cane. The Federal Court, in a unanimous decision, dismissed his final appeal and upheld the conviction.


Paul Yong, by the way, not only raped the 23-year-old maid under his employ, but afterwards, he would also have the galls to threaten to kill her if she told his wife. In other words, he likely expected her to continue working in his household as if nothing had happened, and continue to serve the man who had violated her in the most brutal way, as if she was lower than dirt and he was equal to the gods.


Imagine the level of disdain he must have had for the working class, to think that he can expect this from the maid.


We can only imagine the terror the maid must have endured — trapped, silenced, and forced to carry on with her duties under the shadow of violence. The arrogance it takes for a man like Paul Yong to think he could get away with such cruelty simply because she was a poor, foreign, working-class woman, while he was a high-ranking member of government, reveals the impunity with which the elites often act.


This is why, for many ordinary Malaysians, seeing Paul Yong finally face his comeuppance is more than the end of a high-profile court case. It is a small but powerful reminder that the powerful can — and must — be held accountable.


The middle and upper classes often tell us what “reformasi” means. They talk about institutional reform, civil liberties, or equity. These are grand words, but if they are meaningful, they are meaningful only to them.


As for the working class , reformasi is only real and meaningful, when the rich and powerful are punished in the same way we are when we break the law.


We know what injustice looks like. In the Malaysia of old, if a labourer was caught in khalwat, he would be publicly whipped. But when a Datuk or Tan Sri commits the same act, even in broad daylight, they can expect nothing to happen to them, even if there is a video recording that catches them in the act. If a clerk or a driver was caught taking a few hundred ringgit in bribes, jail awaited him without delay. But when politicians and businessmen siphoned millions, they often got away with a mere compound — no jail, no shame, no justice.


This sort of double standard permeates old Malaysia - from the relationship between workers and their employers, rich developers and ordinary house owners, even on such matter as how the roads is to be used by whom, there is a perception that there is two laws for country, one for the working class and one for the upper classes, where the law that is applied on the working class is much more harsher and exacting, while the one that is applied on the upper classes are much more lenient and forgiving.


If reformasi is real, this perception should change.


We are not asking for leniency for the working class. A wrong is a wrong, and whoever commits it should be punished, but they should be punished according to their deeds, not their station in society.


If the poor are punished swiftly and harshly for the wrongs that we do, then the elites must face the same when they commit crimes — and often, they commit far worse.


That is why Paul Yong’s conviction matters.


On Tuesday, Yong was sent to Kajang Prison after the Federal Court, led by Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, ruled that his conviction was “safe.” The judges rejected his claim of an unfair trial and affirmed that the victim’s testimony, given under witness protection, was credible. A man who once held political office is now an inmate.


This case took years. In 2022, the High Court sentenced Yong to 13 years in jail and two strokes of the cane. In 2024, the Court of Appeal reduced it to eight years but maintained the caning. Now, the Federal Court has closed the door on his appeals . It has finally made it clear that you can't think that you can get away from oppressing and exploiting the working class, because you arrogantly believe that the laws that apply to the working does not apply to you.


That the authorities have acted in this way, even if it took them 6 years to arrive at this decision, is a sign that maybe reformasi is truly on the way.


For the middle class, the Madani government will be measured by how fast it delivers institutional reforms or improves civil liberties. But for the working class, our measure is much simpler: We will believe Anwar Ibrahim’s promise of reformasi is real when we see more rich and powerful men in prison uniforms.


Only then will we know that reformasi has truly arrived.