Former lecturer remains in prison for 30 years for murder, discharging firearm

THE Putrajaya Court of Appeal today upheld a 30-year jail sentence for a former college lecturer for murder and discharging a firearm during a bank robbery four years ago.

A three-judge panel led by Justice Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, together with Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid and Dean Wayne Daly, unanimously rejected the prosecution's appeal seeking a harsher sentence for the accused.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim requested the death penalty or 40 years' jail for Chai Kong Wee @ Chia Kong Wee for the murder charge, in addition to requesting that the sentence for discharging a firearm be increased to at least 35 years' jail.

Alternatively, the prosecution also requested that the 30-year jail sentence for each charge be served separately.

In the unanimous decision, Justice Noorin said the High Court judge had exercised due discretion in sentencing to avoid an overall sentence that was too severe.

He said the court had no sufficient grounds to interfere with the High Court's sentencing decision.

Chai, 42, pleaded guilty to both charges in the High Court on August 6, 2025, before being sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane for each charge, which were ordered to run concurrently from the date of sentencing.

For the first charge, he is charged with killing a security firm personnel, Muhammad Aiman ​​Hakim Md Zakri, 21, at a bank in Jalan Prima Utama, Taman Puchong Prima, Puchong, Selangor, at 5.50 pm, March 11, 2022.

He is also charged with firing shots into the ceiling while robbing a bank in Pusat Perniagaan Subang Square, Subang Jaya at 4.30 pm, Sept 3, 2020.

During the proceedings, Mohd Zain described the murder as brutal and stressed that a severe sentence should be imposed as a lesson because the respondent allegedly planned carefully before committing the robbery and shooting.

He also argued that the prison sentences should be served separately since the offences were separate transactions committed at different locations.

However, court-appointed lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali argued that the long prison sentence served by Chai has resulted in the accused being in prison for a very long time.

"He will never enjoy freedom again," he said.

He said Chai was also sentenced to 30 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane in two other similar cases, which were ordered to run separately, in addition to an additional 13 years in prison for attempted murder. – May 18, 2026