Lim Kit Siang

Who do you trust on crime?

— Justice Seeker
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 24, 2012

JUNE 24 — Who do we trust? I tell you who we should trust: Those who have a track record of telling the truth; those whose track record of performance can stand up to scrutiny.

Just think about all those people who you have trusted all through your life: your parents, siblings, classmates, colleagues, religious leaders, etc. Even when you did not agree with what they told you, you knew that it was probably for your benefit and, ultimately, truthful.

So we should use the same yardstick or gut feel to evaluate what Idris Jala is telling us about crime.

What is the track record of this man? He rode on the glory of the supposed turnaround of Malaysia Airlines, basking in the glory of accolades and reaping financial rewards for saving the airline.

Every publication talked up his “achievement” of turning around the national icon.

Now we are told that MAS was not really saved. There was huge cost-cutting, which hurt the brand immensely, but little was done to actually improve the airline structurally. Its business model was hopeless then and hopeless now.

I would suggest The Malaysian Insider actually do some old-fashioned probing on dodgy contracts given to spouses of union officials in the name of “industrial harmony”.

Or better yet, ask Ahmad Jauhari Yahya to come clean on what happened at MAS during the Jala’s reign.

Let us move on. Jala then became a member of Najib’s administration and czar of the so-called government transformation unit. Christians remember him very well.

In the run-up to the Sarawak elections, when the Najib administration was fearful of losing the Christian vote, Jala was tasked with the job of resolving many issues that were upsetting Christians, especially the seizure of Malay-language bibles.

He famously announced that the government had come up with a 10-point plan to resolve unhappiness felt by Christians. That plan was famously knocked back by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and not much has happened since then. Even the Catholic Church’s right to use to word Allah has been swept under the carpet.

In recent days, Jala has been chastising the media for sensationalising the crime situation in the country, pointing to his crime statistics.

Should you trust what he says about crime? Does his track record hold up to any scrutiny? Just think about how many members of your family have been victims of crime over the past few months?

Do you trust them or do you trust Jala?