I REFER to your report “Call to find a better term for kandang saksi” (NST, Feb 26). I concur with Yang di-Pertua Negeri Malacca Tun Mohd Khalil Yaacob when he pointed out that the Malay word, kandang saksi, which refers to a witness stand in a courtroom, is inappropriate.
Kandang means a stable or a cowshed, usually referred to a place of confinement for animals like kandang kerbau, kandang lembu or kandang kuda. It is a square wooden structure, usually found in animal farms, to keep them from wandering around at night.
In Singapore, it is the name of a place along Bukit Timah Road, where the famous hospital, Kandang Kerbau Hospital, stood. Many were born there, but now they call it KKH or KK Hospital, perhaps because it is not appropriate to be known as Kandang Kerbau Hospital.
I feel it is more appropriate to use the word pentas saksi instead of kandang saksi. Pentas means a stage, a raised floor or platform such as that found in halls, or theatres, on which speakers, actors and entertainers perform.
Another suitable word is mimbar, an Arabic word for a raised small wooden square structure with or without a small roof-like cover carved with passages from the Quran.
The mimbar inside the mosque is where the imam delivers sermons during Friday prayers. It is more or less like a pulpit used by a preacher in a church.
I feel that either of these two words should be used to replace kandang saksi.
NOR SHAHID MOHD NOR,
Petaling Jaya, Selangor