Mandarin Oranges for Inmates of the Penang Prison on the occasion of Chinese New Year 2011


The Council of Justices of the Peace, State of Penang, has since the past 10 over years made sure that the inmates of the Penang Prison are not left out during festivities such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. The Council ensures that the inmates too should share the joys of the festivities. In this connection the Council distributed today 1500 Mandarin Oranges to the inmates of the Penang Prison for this year’s Chinese New Year celebrations. Apart from this the Council has in the past contributed Television Sets, Air Conditioners, Books, Board Games, etc to the Penang Prisons. President of the Council of Justices of the Peace Dato Markend Joshi JP says that the institution of Justices of the Peace in Penang is however hampered in its meaningful role due to lack of physically able Justices of the Peace in Penang.

We have today only about 90 living members out of which only about 20 percent are active to perform their role as Justices of the Peace. The remaining 80 percent are above 75 years of age. This is due to the fact that Penang has not appointed any JP’s since the past 20 over years. Today many people are not aware of the role and functions of JP’s. Justices of the Peace have powers vested in them equivalent to a Second Class Magistrate and can sign and witness on documents such as Power of Attorney, Applications for Business Registration, certifying True Copies which are recognized by commonwealth countries, etc. The Penang Justices of the Peace had also been appointed to the Board of Visiting Justices to the Penang Prisons. Today there are many people particularly students wanting to certify their documents for overseas universities, etc but are unable to locate suitable Justices of the Peace to endorse their documents. The Council notes that other States in Malaysia continue to appoint between 8 to 15 Justices of the Peace annually. Once again we call upon the Penang State Government to seriously consider starting appointing Justices of the Peace in the State of Penang so that the Penangites could also benefit from the services of the JP’s. The Council will seek to meet Chief Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Tuan Lim Guan Eng to justify the need to appoint new JP’s in Penang and will also submit nominations of respectable and suitable persons having knowledge of the Judicial process to be considered as JP’s. In concluding I would like to thank Messrs Chop Tuan Gong for the wholehearted donation of the Mandarin Oranges. DATO’ MARKEND JOSHI, JP President - Council of Justices of the Peace, State of Penang. 1ST February 2011D