The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared a “War against Crime” when he launched Pemandu’s United Against Crime Day at the KLCC Park in Kuala Lumpur the previous Saturday on 8th June, but it has turned into a nightmarish week for Malaysians with criminals going on a rampage including the new-fangled mass armed robbery of owners and customers of restaurants and eateries.
The headlines given by the BN-owned/controlled media, like “Criminals beware: Its War” and “All-out fight against crime” (Sunday Star 9.6.2013) turned into ashes when it was the criminals who declared war last weekend starting with a group of about 10 parang-wielding men in crash helmets who held up the owner and several customers who were having early-morning supper at Simmei Seafood and Steamboat restaurant at Taman Taynton View in Cheras and got away with RM20,000 in cash and valuables.
This new criminal phenomenon has been repeated in the past week with similar crimes of mass armed gang robberies of customers and owners at open restaurants and eateries in Kepong, Cheras, Kajang and Petaling Jaya, transmitting a new fear of crime throughout the country that it is not safe in Malaysia to be eating out at restaurants and eateries!
The following comment last night on my blog in response to my statement “Police should not be super-efficient to arrest peaceful Malaysians, including women and child while utterly helpless at worsening crime situation with new fear among Malaysians – not safe eating out in restaurants and public eateries” reflected both the severity and gravity of this scourge:
“The crime situation in the country seems to have worsened markedly after the recent GE and has now reached alarming levels.
“I think the police have got their priorities wrong by paying too much attention on peaceful gatherings by the Opposition and others.
“In today’s Sin Chew Daily, just on the national news alone (excluding the regional news), there were a total of 8 cases of serious crimes being reported, including (i) two robbers entered a school compound in Ipoh in broad daylight to rob a teacher; (ii) in Kuala Kurau, Perak, four armed robbers attempted to rob some villagers, a villager was shot and seriously wounded; (iii) in Senai, Johor, 5 men impersonating as tree cutters robbed a house of RM10,000 in valuables; (iv) in Kota Tinggi, Johor, 4 armed robbers robbed a goldsmith shop of RM1 million worth in jewellery; (v) 2 men masquerading as guests robbed a budget hotel in Batang Kali, Selangor; (vi) in Kuantan, 5 thieves first stole a lorry, then attempted but unsuccessfully to cart away BSN’s ATM machine using the stolen lorry; (vii) 8 parang wielding robbers robbed 3 diners of RM5,100 in valuables at Jalan Lapangan Terbang Lama; (viii) in Petaling Jaya, 2 robbers attempted to rob a car accessory shop, a worker was shot.
“Well, the Star only has two pieces of robbery news today. If you read the Star, you would think that everything is quiet on the Western Front.
“By the way, my brother-in-law also had his gold necklace snatched away by a lone robber early this morning. Just last night, we were discussing the sudden hike in crime lately.”
Actually, the commentator who goes by the pseudonym of “tuahpekkong” had missed another Sin Chew report (P.2) yesterday which reported that at least 10 DJs of a local television channel had been robbed.
Why did Najib launch a “war against crime” four years after his Government Transformation Programme (GTP) which had the reduction of crime as one of its top NKRAs, especially after the government’s claim of success that it has reduced the country’s crime index by 26.8% since the first phase of the GTP in 2009?
The reason is very simple – the growing gulf between the police’s claim of success to reduce the crime index and the people’s perception and fear of crime, arising not only from their direct and indirect experiences with rampant crime but the government’s inability to instill public confidence that the police can protect the safety and security of citizens, tourists and investors.
What the country needs today is a new Home Minister and a new Inspector-General of Police whose sole pre-occupation is how to wage and win the War against Crime, make Malaysia safe for its citizens, tourists and investors as well as also eliminate the fear of crime haunting and hounding Malaysians for over a decade.
Instead, we have a new Home Minister and a new IGP who have made clear from their public postures that their topmost priority is not the War against Crime but a War against Pakatan Rakyat leaders and social activists to serve the UMNO/Barisan Nasional agenda to use the police to protect the regime instead of protecting the life, limb and property of ordinary Malaysians!
The government and the police establishment have clearly lost their way to discharge their most fundamental duty as a government, which is to keep the citizenry safe from crime, when they commissioned an international consultant Frost and Sullivan to conduct a study on the level of public satisfaction regarding the effectiveness of police service and their sense of security in the country.
A government and a police leadership which needs consultants, whether national or international, to report on how to carry out its fundamental duty to protect the lives and property of its citizens, tourists and investors, is just not fit and qualified to hold their high offices.
I call on Najib to put his War on Crime as top Cabinet agenda on Wednesday to ensure that the police are not totally helpless in the new rampage by criminals, including the new-fangled mass armed robbery of owners/customers of restaurants and eateries.
On my recent trip back to 1Malaysia to vote, I stayed for some days to catch up with friends who lived in the various housing estates in the Klang Valley. What surprised me was the number of ‘road-blocks’ manned by private security guards paid for by residents of the various roads and estates. One even stopped me to ask me for my identity and why was I driving there. This raises several issues:
1. Why the proliferation of these private guards and where are the police officers doing the rounds? When I lived in a KL suburb, one could see the occasional policemen on their motorbikes on patrol or hear the sound of their motorbikes as they pa$sed by. Not any more. Where have they all disappeared to ?
2. What authority have these private guards to place barriers on public roads? What authority have these guards to stop and ask for your identity and question you as to why are you driving there? Who gave them these ‘powers’ and ‘authority’ ?
As I understand it, only the police and the local authorities have the powers to do so. Can they they delegate or sub-contract their powers to these private guards? Should there be problems, what are the liabilities and rights for all concerned especially the innocent pas$er by ? Why can’t citizens travel freely on public roads even in housing estates?
This trend is becoming an inconvenience and problematic to the general public. It looks like we are now unsafe and under siege if not under attack. Maybe Najib’s incessant talk about a ‘high-income’ country is emboldening, attracting and encouraging thieves and robbers.
Who are the robbers? Indians? Malays ? Chinese ? Mixed ? Indonesians ? Filipinos ? Banglas ? Colombians ? Nigerians ? Who, may we know so we can be better prepared and cautious? Is there a pattern here ? Is it now a free for all ?
I also note that of late, too many signboards have gone up everywhere informing the public about snatch-thieves. What are we telling the people especially the visitors? Also the many other signs with police contact numbers. We used to be a safe place before and now I have to tell my friends visiting 1Malaysia to be extra careful as it is not safe any more. And the government doesn’t seem to care.
Just watch this smooth criminal in action. Cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceU4ANZKdOM
Everytime UMNO/BN decide to make a spectacle of themselves, something EVEN worst happens – to US..
Get rid of them at top you may get it done
This is what will happen when you placed a fox to be the monitor of a henhouse.One need not be a rocket scientist to figure it out.
Yeah, like placing Casanova in charge of the royal harem, loooool
All it takes is to drive around the neighbourhood where these ministers reside.Their mansions are like fortresses with guards armed to the teeth.
Talk about snatch thieves,robbers,rapists,gangsters and kidnappers.Would our home minister know the difference between a mule and a donkey.
tugas utama pdrm,
a.jaga buntut umnob
b.tangkap pemimpin pembangkang
c.tangkap yang tak sokong barisan najis
d.menyorok belakang pokok cari wang saku
e.ahli gusti sambilan di lokap
f.kalau takda kerja di atas baru tangkap orang jahat
Mr Lim,
The level of crime in Malaysia is probably due to nothing else but my perception :)
Given all the “perceived” crime we have in Malaysia, maybe it is quite apt that our current Home Minister is facing criminal charges for assault and our current Police Inspector General is cracking down on peaceful protestors.
It must be embarrassing and soul destroying for young enthusiastic PDRM recruits to have to take sides against the very people they have vowed to protect.
I was seething with anger today when I read a news item about the police providing hourly checks on ATM machines!!! Why? ATM machine security is the responsibility of the banks. Where are the PDRM’s priorities? The people are being robbed, slashed, rape and all manner of harm done to their properties and personal well being and the police are more worried about the banks’ ATM machines? Banks pays more taxes? Banks’ ATM machines more important than human lives? We have reached the stage where our streets have been hijacked by criminals and we are too afraid even to step out of our houses.
I would be more than happy to settle for two hourly patrol by the police on the streets on crime hotspots. And where is that large number of motorcycles recently presented to the police with much publicity to help them in their patrols? I have NEVER seen any policemen anywhere near the street where my house is either on motorcycles or cars over the last six months. And I live less than 2km from a police station that was opened with much fanfare less than 3 years ago.
///Police should not be super-efficient to arrest peaceful Malaysians…///
One element in defining a democratic society is a police force that:
is subject to the rule of law embodying values respectful of human dignity, rather than the wishes of a powerful leader or party
can intervene in the life of citizens only under limited and carefully controlled circumstances and
is publicly accountable.
These conditions are inherent to police in a democracy.
Are we paying the police force to protect the interests of the rich and famous alone while the rest of us have to live in fear of the threats to our safety, our property and loved ones? Why don’t you allow others to do the job when you are not capable of handling it yourself? For instance, the Selangor Government has initiated its intention to start an auxiliary police force of its own to petrol the State of Selangor but met with the usual stumbling block from the relevant authorities.
Perhaps, the government is thinking to legalize crime and then tax it out of business as a way out of this problem.
The bottom line really is YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FEEL SAFE IF WE DON’T GET RID OF UMNO/BN.. The top problem of crime in this country is UMNO/BN..
Najib nows goes to Jakarta to declare that its impossible to hide tens of thousands of foreigner and hence electoral fraud is a lie. It exactly the same as saying he Najib did not know Altantuya and hence has nothing to do with her death which Deepak already revealed to be untrue.
Does Najib sound like anyone interested in war on anything other than against the opposition and for his own career?
Some people from cheras were already relating stories (i hope they are mere rumours) about restaurant owners wanting to arm themselves to fight off the robbers the next time anyone of them were to show up.
This is level 4 of the fight against crime I mentioned a couple of wks ago.
Let me recount the levels here:
level 1: education and job opportunities.
level 2: law enforcement by the police.
level 3: rakyat taking steps to protect their lives and properties eg living in steel cages.
level 4: rakyat engaging and fighting criminals directly as a means of law enforcement (more like taking the laws into their own hands) and also as a way to protect their lives and properties.
There is one word for this situation. Anarchy.
Meanwhile umno is still busy hentam-ing DAP. They hentem-ed DAP so much and so hard during GE13 that they could not now stop the hentam-ing momentum which they built up. It is now pretty obvious that the hentam-ing momentum is taking off-tangent.
Ling liong sik was right.
The rot starts with the head. For us, the rot started with the head a long time ago.
That head has a name and he is monsterO’mamak.
Yeah, remember who they were who killed & blew up Altantuya? And under whose orders? More like somebody’s private army… soon it’ll be like the movie The Untouchables… if the BUMNOs are allowed to remain lording it over everybody else.