APRIL 28 ― Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
This is a line from the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. It is spoken by Marcellus and is one of the most memorable lines in all of Shakespeare’s works.
In the play, Hamlet ― the Prince of Denmark ― meets Horatio on the battlements of the castle. They wait together in the darkness.
From below they hear the sound of the men in the castle laughing and dancing riotously. Hamlet explains to Horatio his dislike of such behaviour.
To Hamlet, drinking to excess has ruined the whole nation, which is known abroad as a land full of drunken swine.
Horatio then spots the ghost of Hamlet's father approaching. Hamlet calls out to the ghost and it beckons Hamlet to leave with it.
Despite the pleadings of Horatio and Marcellus, who are afraid that the apparition might be an evil entity in disguise, Hamlet agrees to follow the ghost and the two figures disappear into the dark.
Shortly after Hamlet follows the ghost off stage, Horatio asks Marcellus what the ghost's presence means and what will come of Hamlet's interaction with it. Marcellus responds by saying:
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” (Act 1, Scene 4, Line 95)
Marcellus's famous line indicates that he believes that something is amiss in Denmark that has motivated a tortured ghost to walk the earth and seek Prince Hamlet.
It is not natural for a ghost to be appearing and talking to Hamlet. The appearances of the ghost are a manifestation of something evil.
Something is wrong ― like in the RM50,000 compound issued to 38-year-old burger seller Wan Mohd Faisal Wan Kadir for violating the movement control order (MCO), including operating beyond 10pm.
Under the law, a RM50,000 compound is for an offence committed by a body corporate. Read section 25 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342). For good measure, the full provision of the section is shown below:
“The Director General or any authorised officer authorised for this purpose by the Director General in writing may, with the consent in writing of the Public Prosecutor, at any time before a charge is being instituted, compound any offence under this Act or any regulations made under this Act which has been prescribed by regulations as a compoundable offence by making a written offer to the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence to compound the offence upon payment to the Director General:
(a) in the case of a person who is an individual, a sum of money not exceeding ten thousand ringgit; or
(b) in the case of a body corporate, a sum of money not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit.”
Wan Mohd Farid may be in the business of selling burgers. But that does not make him a body corporate, which is a corporation. It is called a body corporate because it is a group of persons who are made into a body politic and having the capacity to take, grant, etc, by a particular name.
A body corporate is created by statute and is different from a natural person, like Wan Mohd Farid. In the business of selling burgers, he is likely a sole proprietor. Under the law, the sole proprietor and the business are one and the same. It is not a separate legal entity from the business owner.
If the business commits an offence for operating beyond the permitted business hours, it is the owner who is compounded. The owner is an individual and therefore the compound is “a sum of money not exceeding ten thousand ringgit.” [section 25(a)]
I am no Marcellus in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
But something is wrong when Wan Mohd Farid is issued with a compound of RM50,000.
