While the weeklong belated reply by the PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) public relations officer ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf refuting the “whistleblower” expose “Crime statistics: Let the truth be told” on doctoring of crime statistics is being studied, the bleak and undeniable fact is that the police response failed to explain the vast double disconnect of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reduction in crime rate yet with the worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in the nation’s 55 year history.
Recently, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysians should be proud of the country’s position as the safest country in Southeast Asia in the Global Peace Index.
This was echoed in the 2011 Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Annual Report on Reducing Crime NKRA, which said:
“In the fifth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) released in May 2011, Malaysia was declared the most peaceful country in Southeast Asia and the 4th safest in the Asia Pacific region behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia. The country rose three spots to 19th place, supplanting Singapore as the highest-ranked Southeast Asian nation. In its GPI rankings, the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace also placed Malaysia as the 19th safest and most peaceful country out of 153 nations worldwide. This is the fifth successive year that Malaysia has improved on its GPI score.” (p 55)
In his foreword to the 2011 GTP Annual Report, the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein wrote:
“In 2011, we delivered another year of solid results with lower crime rates reported nationwide…..The journey may be a long and arduous one, but we are committed to ensuring that the rakyat in any part of our nation are safe at all time.”
Do Najib and Hishammuddin really believe not only that Malaysians “in any part of our nation are safe at all time”, but that we have become “the safest country in Southeast Asia”?
Hishammuddin’s home town is Johore Baru and he himself would know what is the answer to the question: Whether one feels safer from crime and the fear of crime in JB or when crossing the causeway to Singapore?
If the answer – and there could only be one answer – is that one would feel safer from crime and the fear of crime when in Singapore than in Johore Baru, how can the Prime Minister and the Home Minister rely on the Global Peace Index (GPI) claiming that Malaysia is the “safest country in Southeast Asia” when crime and safety constitute only one-third of the 23 sub-indicators of the GPI?
The 2011 GTP Annual Report claimed many “Big Wins” in its Reduce Crime NKRA – most importantly:
“39.7% Drop in Street Crime and 11.1% Drop in Index Crime – Malaysia Experiences Back-to-Back, Double-Digit Reductions in Crime Nationwide.”
The GTP and the Reducing Crime NKRA has promised Malaysians “a new era of crime fighting”. Malaysians want assurance that what is really delivered is not “a new era of crime fighting statistics”.
This is why the Prime Minister and the Home Minister must convince Malaysians why there is the the vast double disconnect between on the one hand, the government claim of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reductions in crime rate yet with the worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in nation’s 55-year history!
DAP National Publicity Secretary and MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua has pointed out that from the PDRM response to the “whistleblower” allegation of manipulation of crime statistics, although “index crime” had dropped from 209,572 in 2007 to 157,891 in 2011 or 24.7% over the period, “non-index crime” had increased from 42,752 to 72,106 or a massive 68.7% over the same period.
Based on PDRM data, “non-index crime” is increasing annually as a proportion of total crime since 2007 – increasing from 16.9% of total crime in 2007 to 21.9% (2008) to 22.8% (2009) to 29.8% (2010) to a record of 31.4% in 2011.
Is this the result of data manipulation or what the “whistleblower” has charged as a systematic re-classifying of “index crime” to “non-index crime” cases.
What Malaysians would want to know is why the PDRM and PEMANDU have not published any information whatsoever about non-index crime prior to the “whistleblower” expose.
The authorities should release full details about the “non-index crime” for every year for the past 15 years going back to 1997 to enable a verification exercise to be carried out to check on the veracity and authencity of the GTP and NKRA crime statistics.
In Malaysia, there is no more “bad”. The country is just “ungood”. The crime rate is “double-plus ungood”. And Malaysians are stupid enough to believe the drivel coming out from Government. If one wants to know how to cook statistics, one is welcome to read “1984” written by George Orwell about 85 years ago. Remember, the condition for mendacious politicians being successful is that the electorate be, plainly speaking, STUPID.
He said Police are very honest and never tell lies.
He said…give him solid proofs and he will take actions.
If all criminal acts in the world are based on solid proves to act…than murderers will be caught within days.
All over the world…good serious government want the best investigations police officers.
In Malaysia….to listen to that kind of high ranking Police Officer talking…..is actually trying to make suckers out of every Malaysian.
Easy job…facts are there…no need investigating work.
All complaints must have solid proofs…how nice to be a policeman.
A sharp fall in the index-crime rate and a simultaneous steep rise in the non-index crime rate would seem to suggest some very creative classifications at play.
If there are many border-line cases (which I am sure there are many) or if the IOs have some latitude and discretion, I am quite sure they will be tempted to take the easier path. Less hassles for them, their bosses and for those who like and demand rosy pictures.
Its all the same. Either you lower the bar or you raise the ground level of the surrounding area. The end result is the same.
Many ladies now tell me:
They dare not go out alone at night.
They dare not park in lonely places.
They wait for their husbands or brothers or chaperons when they want to go to unfamiliar places.
Hmmm… that wuld translate to increased savings and a drop in consumption expenditure.
So much for crime and statstics.
So far, in the last xxx years, when have we trusted PDRM to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
Maybe Sherlock Holmes can answer that conundrum.
Now we don’t need Sherlock Holmes to answer this one:
Can we believe the Barisan Nasional (BN) government for its pack of lies, wrapped in sheeets and sheets of lice?
///Now we don’t need Sherlock Holmes///-ENDANGERED HORNBILL. It is true & sad at the same time. “Sad” because this fictional detective is supposed to symbolize the vigorous detection of truth. When it is said we don’t need Sherlock Homes it means we don’t really need to enquire too deep into any matter (from the BN govt or any institutions dominated by it) because everything (as what commentator says) is “pack of lies, wrapped in sheeets and sheets of lice. At the same time all BN/Govt apologists/supporters will take the view that everything BN/govt says is true and correct. There is not just a “double disconnect between government claims of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reductions in crime rate on one hand and public perception/fear of crime but there’s thousands of disconnect between whatever else the BN/govt or its dominated institutions claim, and what the sizable section of Malaysians opposed to it perceive otherwise(as Bullsh*t), just like the other section supporting BN/govt will believe everything, there being no “disconnect”… On eve of 55th Merdeka’s celebrations Najib exhorts Malaysians to be united: the reality we’re broadly divided into 2 camps – for or against ABU and not necessarily truth/justice or anything else of any importance – which colours our perception to take sides along these politically bipartisan lines on every issue that arises.
I wish to mention by 2 recent illustrations of what’s being lost in this process of people taking politically bipartisan “do and die” opposing stances in perception of every other issue (not just confined to crime statistics). First is the recent public furore by opposition, women and child rights groups and public over the so called lenient treatment of our courts of former national bowler Noor Afizal Azizan and electrician Chuah Guan Jiu for their offence of statutory rape and second, the pet project by our PKR’s “exposé man” Rafizi Ramli, the National Oversight and Whistleblowers Centre or “NOW” ― a non-profit outfit to encourage whistleblowers come forward. At a time when public confidence in government agencies (including courts) has reached an all-time low, the section of public against (BN & its institution) have gone overboard to perceive that the “lenient” sentence encourages pedophilia, they cry for blood and want the youngsters jailed! On Rafizi’s NOW, the derailment of the BN’s 55 years of lies justifies encouraging everyone to be a snitch (for a good political cause saving of the nation)! Limited space & irrelevancy to the immediate blog subject does not permit me to dwell more on these issues of what’s being lost (truth proportion ofjudment and even justice) in this ‘do or die’ political struggle between the 2 broad camps of Malaysians.
To me the Police Force of today is get more and more mismanaged as the leaders are more political minded than performing their rightful duties.
Today…all the leaders are chosen by UMNO b party to protect the said party and not Malaysians.
Useless to talk so much.
Change the government and overnight..you will see the great difference.