‘Mak Cik Kamboja’ was fined RM40,000 for insulting Malays

MELAKA: The woman known as “Mak Cik Kamboja”, who sparked controversy last year, was fined RM40,000 after pleading guilty at the Sessions Court here on Friday (Dec 6) to two charges of insulting Malays, reported Sinar Harian.

Her son, who was also accused, was released on a RM10,000 bond.

The accused, Mariyah Yaakob, 48 and Ezuan Hafsham Mohd Hisyam, 23, made the plea after the charge was read out against them before judge Azaraorni Abd Rahman.

Based on the charge, she was charged with making a statement to incite racial tension.

The act was committed through a video recording on the TikTok application at a house in Bukit Piatu, Kampung Musai here, at 6pm on Nov 16, 2023.

The prosecution against the single mother of three children was carried out under Section 505 of the Penal Code, which provides a prison sentence of up to two years or a fine or both, if convicted.

Meanwhile, her son, also a Director of Mariyah Holding, was charged with knowingly using the TikTok application at the same address by recording and posting the video of his mother making the offensive statements between Nov 14 and 16, 2023.

He was charged under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and is punishable under Section 233(3) of the same act, which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a maximum prison term of one year or both and shall also be liable to a further fine of RM1,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.

State Director of Public Prosecutions Ahmad Sazali Omar, in his proceedings, proposed that the two accused be given a proportionate sentence because the offences they committed touched on the serious issues of 3R, namely Race, Religious and Royalty.

He also argued that although both accused had apologised to Malaysians via social media, it was no reason to reduce their sentences.

In his appeal, the lawyer for both accused, Kamal Hisham Jaafar, requested a lighter sentence on the grounds that his client’s guilty plea had saved the court time.

In his argument, Kamal Hisham said that the apology made on social media proved that both his clients had truly repented of their offences and would not repeat them.

Judge Azaraorni ordered Mariyah to pay a fine of RM40,000 or serve six months imprisonment if she failed to pay the fine.

Mariyah, wearing a green shirt, was later seen paying the fine after the sentence was handed down.

Ezuan Hafsham was also given a bond of RM10,000 without collateral with a Malaysian guarantor.

The bond for good behaviour was imposed because Ezuan Hafsham was still studying at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

On Dec 7, 2023, Sinar Harian reported that the single mother and her son pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court after the charge against them was read out before Judge Mohd Sabri Ismail.

The media previously reported that the woman had gone to the Melaka Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) to have her statement recorded after the police received 14 reports regarding a viral video clip.

On Nov 27 2023, Mariyah and her son publicly apologised and claimed that the video was aimed at former company employees and as motivation for the community.