Lim Kit Siang

Can’t keep silent about crime

― Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 12, 2012

JULY 12 ― Firstly, Eugene Teh of Pemandu should know his place. He is a consultant, employed by Idris Jala.

He is not the prime minister or the home minister or even our wakil rakyat. He is a consultant who depends on the co-operation of the police to do his work. If the cops are unhappy with Teh, he will have to look for work elsewhere.

So I suppose it is no surprise that he issues a plea to Malaysians to stop bashing the cops because they are our only hope, etc. He goes on to describe the stressful conditions in which they work.

Don’t take us for fools. We deal with the cops daily. We go to police stations to report snatch thefts only to either face unsympathetic faces or worse yet, to be told “banyak kes macam ini”.

Some of us are “discouraged” from lodging reports by cops who either are lazy or have been told to do their best to keep crime statistics down. (What is that again? Crime is down 10 per cent!)

Those of us who have to deal with cops know how investigations papers can go missing and how clear-cut cases can drag on for a long time because the perpetrator is connected.

Corruption is endemic in the force and meritocracy does not exist with those who suck up to the politicians moving up the ladder while the real crime busters seek early retirement.

Mediocrity runs through the force from the IGP to the mata-mata. Eight times out of ten, policemen on patrol are shaking down foreign workers.

The simple fact is that we deal with cops on a daily basis and most of us are respectful, but we know that we will not get much help from them. We trust them as much as we trust the crime statistics.

Teh, you say that we should not bash the cops and demoralise them.

I say that it is a bigger danger for Malaysians to keep silent when the cops bash up their own people, steal from them and pretend that the crime situation is all good.

Semua OK!

And may I know why The Malaysian Insider has become the Pemandu webpage?