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Hanif’s “40% senior cops corrupt” allegation – Cabinet should apologise for disregarding it and make amends tomorrow

Nanyang Sian Pau’s report with the headline “Hanif, Produce Proof — Musa’s comment on allegation that 40% of senior police officers corrupt” is the only newspaper to give some prominence to the serious allegation by the country’s longest-serving and most famous former Inspector General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar that 40% of senior police officers could be arrested for corruption without further investigations strictly on the basis of their lifestyles.

It has taken the IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan more than a week to respond to Hanif’s serious allegation, and it was a most anaemic, perfunctory and unimpressive response totally lacking in credibility — that the public should lodge reports if they have information on corrupt cops and that he would take action to investigate to determine the truth.

The failure of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and IGP to respond seriously to the unprecedented allegation of police corruption by a pillar of the establishment like Tun Hanif in his Sunday Star column on August 12 that 40% of senior police officers could be arrested for corruption without further investigations strictly on the basis of their lifestyles is eloquent testimony that Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s anti-corruption campaign has completely run out of steam and is a dismal failure.

What Hanif exposed was not about individual cases of corruption but systemic corruption of the police force and the public service. Continue reading “Hanif’s “40% senior cops corrupt” allegation – Cabinet should apologise for disregarding it and make amends tomorrow”

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ACA – why not even one out of 1,400 senior police officers who could be nabbed for corruption in past three years?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should table the Sunday Star article of the country’s most famous Inspector-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, “The Fence that Eats the Rice” excoriating the underperformance and failures of the three “vital institutions” of the state, the police, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

In his column, Hanif said he had briefed the Police Royal Commission, of which he was Deputy Chairman, “that police corruption was so extensive that a very senior ACA officer had confided in me and another top retired police officer that 40% of the senior officers could be arrested without further investigations — strictly on the basis of their lifestyles”.

He wrote:

One state police chief had a net worth of RM18mil. My friend and I had watched the force getting deeper and deeper into the morass of corruption.

It was the daily talk and the butt of gibes on the golf courses that embarrassed retired police officers no end; yet even we were stunned by this revelation and its implication. Would the force we had served for so long and which had given us so much experience and such great pride for what we had built it into, be destroyed in the expected ACA action?

I could not help telling the ACA officer that he really had his work cut out for him and that his fight against corruption was the most important fight facing the country but I hoped that he could effectively stamp out this corruption without destroying our PDRM which had done such yeomen service to the nation.

Hanif’s fear that the PDRM would suffer great damage in a campaign to “effectively stamp out corruption” has proved to be completely misplaced, as the culture of impunity for the corrupt among the high and mighty continued to reign supreme and there was not a single one of the 1,400 senior police officers “who could be arrested without further investigation strictly based on the basis of their lifestyles” who had been arrested and prosecuted since the publication of the Royal Police Commission Report in May 2005.

The Royal Police Commission reported that the PDRM had an establishment of 90,256 police personnel in 2004, and there would be a total of 3,502 senior police officers for all ranks above the inspector, viz:

IGP 1
DIG 1
CP 6
DCP 18
SAC I 27
SAC II 56
ACP 148
SUPT 376
DSP 792
ASP 2,077

Total 3,502

If “40% of the senior officers could be arrested without further investigations — strictly on the basis of their lifestyles”, we are talking about a staggering figure of 1,400 out of the 3,502 senior police officers from the rank of Assistant Superintendent to Inspector-General of Police. Continue reading “ACA – why not even one out of 1,400 senior police officers who could be nabbed for corruption in past three years?”

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Hanif’s “pagar makan padi” indictment – 50th Merdeka anniversary only meaningful if IPCMC announced before August 31

The verdict is now in 27 months after the Royal Police Commission Report in May 2005 to create an incorruptible, efficient, professional and world-class police service to reduce crime, eradicate corruption and respect human rights — a police force which is not only more rotten than before Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister, but with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers equally tarnished for “Harap Pagar, Pagar Makan Padi”!

This harsh judgment was not made by Opposition leaders and NGO critics of government, but by a venerable pillar of the establishment, the former and longest-serving Inspector-General of Police and Deputy Chairman of the Royal Police Commission, Tun Hanif Omar in his Sunday Star column with a title which is an indictment on all the three “vital institutions” — “THE FENCE THAT EATS THE RICE”!

Hanif’s article is even more condemnatory of the rot in the police force than the Royal Police Commission report when everyone should be singing praises for a reformed police after the implementation of the Commission’s 125 recommendations to create an incorruptible, efficient and professional world-class police service.

Instead this is what Hanif wrote yesterday:

I briefed the Royal Commission that police corruption was so extensive that a very senior ACA officer had confided in me and another top retired police officer that 40% of the senior officers could be arrested without further investigations — strictly on the basis of their lifestyles. One state police chief had a net worth of RM18mil. My friend and I had watched the force getting deeper and deeper into the morass of corruption. ..

“I could not help telling the ACA officer that he really had his work cut out for him and that his fight against corruption was the most important fight facing the country but I hoped that he could effectively stamp out this corruption without destroying our PDRM which had done such yeomen service to the nation.

But what has the police to show in the follow-up to the Royal Police Commission Report?

Hanif lamented that although the Police Royal Commission Report was made public two-and-a-quarter years ago, “yet PDRM has still not burnished its image”.

He wrote: Continue reading “Hanif’s “pagar makan padi” indictment – 50th Merdeka anniversary only meaningful if IPCMC announced before August 31″

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Is Abdullah strictly liable for seditious postings on PMO website?

“Watch your blogs, warns PM” was the headline of Sunday Star on the warning by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Kuantan on Saturday that bloggers are not immune from the law, whether their websites are hosted overseas or otherwise.

Does this warning apply to the Prime Minister himself, in view of disclosures on the blogosphere that the Prime Minister’s official website had hosted a very incendiary and seditious article inciting racial hatred, ill-will and animosity among the Malays and Chinese in the country?

This article, written in Bahasa Malaysia and purported to be by one “DR. NG SENG”, clearly an “agent provocateur” camouflaging as a Chinese, had been on the Prime Minister’s Office website for more than 20 months since Nov. 14, 2005 on the “ucapan takziah” for the late Datin Paduka Seri Endon Mahmood archive.

Blogger Ronnie Liu will be lodging a police report on the seditious and inflammatory “DR. NG SENG” article today.

Although the seditious article, together with the entire “ucapan takziah” archive, has been removed from the Prime Minister’s Office website this morning, the fact remains that the seditious article had been publicly available on the website for over 20 months and a grave crime had been perpetrated.

Who must be held responsible for the seditious article on the official website of the Prime Minister?

Is Abdullah strictly liable for seditious postings on the Prime Minister’s Office website to the extent that he could be charged and tried for sedition?

This would appear to be the implication from the comments of Abdullah, who appears to be declaring the principle of strict liability for bloggers and website principals. Is this the position of the Prime Minister and the government?

Will the Police haul up Abdullah to record a statement following Ronnie’s police report? I am not suggesting that Abdullah should be arrested, charged and tried in court for the seditious “DR. NG SENG” article on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office, although these would be the logical results if under the law there is the principle of strict liability for the seditious materials which are posted on the official website of the Prime Minister’s Office. Continue reading “Is Abdullah strictly liable for seditious postings on PMO website?”

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RM27m cop, RM34m cop and corruption allegations against top cops – Is IGP Musa prepared for independent inquiry?

Today’s New Straits Times report “ACA probes cop with RM27m assets” has refocused public attention on corruption in the police force and raised the question whether the Royal Police Commission’s three key recommendations that the nation should have an efficient and professional world-class police service to reduce crime, eradicate corruption and respect human rights have made any appreciable progress in the past two years.

According to the NST, a senior police officer at Bukit Aman is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for abuse of power and failing to declare RM27 million worth of assets.

It is understood that the officer is also a company director and the RM27 million fortune was amassed illegally.

The NST report said:

Sources familiar with the case said ACA officers from Putrajaya took a statement from the officer at his office yesterday.

“The officer, who is in his 50s, is a director of a company which was awarded a project in April to develop an area in Lahad Datu,” a source said.

“Several villagers voiced their opposition to the project when the company staff went to the area to do surveying work.

“The police officer allegedly ordered the villagers to be arrested,” the source added.

The ACA started its investigation following an anonymous telephone call about two weeks ago.

Malaysians are reminded of the Royal Police Commission report on police corruption:

“The public believes that police personnel are vulnerable and this encourages the public to offer bribes in order to avoid any inconvenience, legal action or paying heavier fines.”

The public are also reminded of the case of the “RM34 million” senior police officer mentioned in the Royal Police Commission Report, which said:

“A retired police officer alleged that corruption was rampant within PDRM. He claimed that many officers had assets several times over their known income. According to the complainant, it was common knowledge that a particular senior officer made an asset declaration amounting to RM34 million and he was surprised that no action was seen to have been taken.” (p. 278)

Continue reading “RM27m cop, RM34m cop and corruption allegations against top cops – Is IGP Musa prepared for independent inquiry?”

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8-hr questioning of RPK – Police nothing better to do?

Totally incredible! Webmaster of popular news portal Malaysia Today, Raja Petra Kamaruddin questioned for eight hours by the police yesterday but not a single question about the articles that he had written and all about the comments posted on the blogs!

The question everybody is asking is: Hasn’t the Police more important things to do than to harass Raja Petra and bloggers like reducing crime and eradicating the fear of crime — or investigate Raja Petra’s detailed allegations in his many articles about power abuses and high-level corruption by political leaders and public officials?

Is the Police an independent and professional service to uphold law and order to catch criminals without fear of favour including the high-and-mighty in politics and government or is it just an instrument of the powers-that-be to carry out its dirty work to victimize and harass critics and dissent?

At a time when public confidence have been greatly shaken by the failure of the police to control crime or to eradicate the fear of crime which have spiraled out of control in the country, the spectacle of the police wasting scarce resources to harass Raja Petra and bloggers while staying scrupulously clear of showing any interest in Raja Petra’s many serious allegations of corruption in high public places is not calculated to enhance the police’s public standing or image.

Can the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, the Police, the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Attorney-General explain why no investigation whatsoever had been launched into the myriad of corruption allegations on the Malaysia Today news portal, which would have justified the opening of scores or even hundreds of corruption files?

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Will police be equally diligent to investigate a report against Najib under Sedition Act for his “717 Declaration”?

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government has not made a “special decision” to clamp down on bloggers but advised Malaysians not to break any laws.

Referring to the police report lodged by Umno Information Chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib against the Malaysia Today news portal, Najib said it was up to the authorities to investigate whether any law had been contravened.

Najib may be technically right that the government has not made any such decision for a crackdown on bloggers, but clearly the Umno leadership has made such a decision which explains why the report against Malaysia Today is in the name of the Umno Information Chief, one of the top Umno leaders.

When the Umno leadership decides, who dares to say that the government has not decided?

If Umno has made a decision to crack down on the bloggers, who will believe that the government has not made a similar decision although the non-Umno Cabinet Ministers and leaders may be completely in the dark about the matter?

When a lowly officer from the Internal Security Ministry Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit can unilaterally and arbitrarily issue a directive to ban media reporting of responses to Najib’s “717 Declaration” which affects only MCA and non-Umno Ministers and leaders, what further proof is needed that on the 50th Merdeka anniversary of the nation, the Barisan Nasional “power-sharing” concept is at its most attenuated form in the nation’s history!

After his report against Malaysia Today and its webmaster, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Muhammad said: “May be they (Malaysia Today) forget that there are many sensitivities in this country. Such people want to destroy the peace in the country.”

Will the authorities be as diligent to investigate if a report is lodged that Najib had contravened the Sedition Act for his “717 declaration” that Malaysia is an Islamic state and had never been a secular state, jettisoning the Merdeka social contract which had been upheld by the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein and trampling on the sensitivities of Malaysians? Continue reading “Will police be equally diligent to investigate a report against Najib under Sedition Act for his “717 Declaration”?”

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Appoint Minister with 24/7 responsibility for “all-out war against crime” – give him 6 months to show results or step down from Cabinet

Today’s media coverage on the crime front has again illustrated how after up to 42% pay rise and increased allocations, the Royal Malaysian Police have failed its most fundamental duty — to keep Malaysians and visitors safe from crime and free from the fear of crime.

These are some of the crimes highlighted in today’s media:

  • A 19-year-old girl student who went to a 24-hour clinic in Ipoh at 1.20 am on Sunday morning for treatment was abducted by two parang-wielding robbers at the clinic and gang-raped; (Sin Chew)
  • A Miri woman tourist in Penang who was severely wounded when she suffered seven cuts when two armed men on a motor-bike targeted her for snatch-theft in Georgetown after supper at a hawker centre on Friday night at about 10 pm. (Nanyang)
  • An Australian businessman who makes frequent trips here becoming a snatch theft victim in Malacca in his current visit — at Taman Melaka Raya at around 8.30 pm on July 15. (The Star)

What has happened to the important recommendation of the Royal Police Commission two years ago for a sustained nation-wide drive against crime “until crime levels have reached a point considered no longer alarming”, with the immediate target of “a minimum 20 per cent decrease in crimes” within the first 12 months after the Report? Continue reading “Appoint Minister with 24/7 responsibility for “all-out war against crime” – give him 6 months to show results or step down from Cabinet”

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Challenge to IGP – implement Royal Commission proposal of minimum 20% decrease of crime index in 12 months

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan has his tenure as the top police cop renewed when it expires in September but when will he get serious about the rising crime and commit the police to an immediate Crime Reduction Plan whose improvement could be openly monitored on a monthly basis?

When the Royal Police Commission submitted its final report in May 2005, it said that Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country was “seriously dented” by the “dramatic increase” in the incidence of crime in the past few years and that “Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation”.

The Royal Commission warned that “if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia”.

The Royal Police Commission was referring to the “dramatic increase” in the crime index from 121,176 cases in 1997 to 156,455 cases in 2004, which registered an increase of 29 per cent in eight years.

As a result, the Royal Police Commission proposed a sustained nation-wide drive against crime “until crime levels have reached a point considered no longer alarming”.

Although the Royal Police Commission did not spell out what were the crime levels considered “no longer alarming”, it proposed an immediate target of “a minimum 20 per cent decrease in crimes” within the first 12 months after the Report.

As the Royal Police Commission must be aware of the police target of reducing the crime index by five per cent a year, it would be safe to assume that to the Royal Police Commission, a “no longer alarming” crime index would be a 20% reduction of crime incidence in the first 12 months after the Royal Commission Report followed by a five per cent annual reduction of the crime index.

This would mean that for 2005, there would be a 20% decrease of the crime incidence of 156,455 cases of 2004 followed by a 5% annual decrease in 2006 and 2007 — which will work out to 125,164 cases in 2005, 118,905 cases in 2006 and 112,960 in 2007.

How has the Police fared since the Report of the Royal Police Commission in reducing crime, whether according to the benchmark of the Commission of a minimum 20% decrease in the first 12 months or the police’s own target of an annual reduction of the crime index by five per cent?

Far from being brought to levels which are no longer “alarming” to citizens, tourists and investors, the crime index after the Royal Commission Report had increased by leaps and bounds – shooting up by 9.7 per cent from 156,455 cases in 2004 to 171,604 in 2005, and a further 15.7 per cent in 2006 to 198,622. If there is an annual 5.11 per cent increase for 2007 as reflected for the first six months of the year, then the total crime index would reach a record-high of 208,772 cases!

Instead of reducing the crime incidence of 156,455 cases in 2004 to a level “no longer alarming”, crime incidence is set to break the 200,000 mark this year — which would be a hefty increase of some 30% of the crime incidence of 2004! Instead of bringing down the crime incidence to 112,960 in 2007, it is set to break the 200,000 mark — a shortfall of nearly 80%!

But what is shocking is that no one in police or government regards such a huge jump in the crime incidence as alarming or a threat to the quality of life of Malaysians, tourism and investment despite the alarm sounded by the Royal Police Commission at the 2004 crime index. Continue reading “Challenge to IGP – implement Royal Commission proposal of minimum 20% decrease of crime index in 12 months”

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Worsening crime index — 8.2 cases of rape a day in first 6 months this year as compared to 4 cases in 2003 and 6.7 cases in 2006

Last Monday in Parliament, I received an answer from the Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that the crime index had registered a 8.7 per cent increase in the first five months of this year as compared to the corresponding period last year, i.e 87,582 cases from Jan. to May 2007 as compared to 80,756 cases for the period last year.

Five days later, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan updated the crime statistics showing that for the first six months of the year, there had been a 5.11 per cent increase in the crime index as compared to the corresponding period last year. i.e. 106,236 cases from Jan. to June 2007 as compared to 101,073 cases for the period last year.

From Abdullah and Musa’s statements, we can deduce that the average monthly crime incidence for the first five months of this year was 17,516 cases (87,582/5), while the crime incidence for June was 18,654, i.e. the crime incidence in June was 6.5% higher than the monthly average crime index recorded in the first five months of the year.

Malaysians must speak up and make clear that they find it completely unacceptable that the crime index keeps climbing up, reflecting an ever-worsening situation with regard to crime and the fear of crime in the country defeating the very purpose of the establishment of the Royal Police Commission in 2004 to have a world-class police service and reduce crime in the country.

In the first six months of this year, there were 1,507 cases of rape as compared to 1,186 for the corresponding period last year — an increase of 27.1%. This works out to 8.2 cases of rape per day in the first six months of this year as compared to four cases a day in 2003 and 6.7 cases a day in 2006 — another shocking index of the worsening crime and fear-of-crime situation in the country, bearing in mind the high percentage of unreported cases of crime. Continue reading “Worsening crime index — 8.2 cases of rape a day in first 6 months this year as compared to 4 cases in 2003 and 6.7 cases in 2006”

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Crime and fear of crime worse than before Royal Police Commission period

Two common threads of the three public hearings of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance on “Fight Rising Crime” held in Johor Baru the previous Sunday, Petaling Jaya on Wednesday and Bukit Mertajam yesterday are:

  • Drastic shortfall in the two major objectives of effective policing, firstly, to prevent, reduce and detect crime; and secondly, to provide safety and security for law-abiding citizens and their families.
  • Worsening crime situation and a palpable fear of crime which have gripped Malaysians in the hot spots of crime in the country, like Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang, Penang and Ipoh even worse than before the establishment of the Royal Police Commission 42 months ago.

      The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassa and the top police leadership must explain why crime and the fear of crime situation are worse than pre-Royal Police Commission period before 2004 although police pay rise has increased up to 42%?

      That the crime situation gotten worse rather than better is illustrated by the latest batch of crime statistics given by Musa on Saturday, where he announced that the crime index in the country had shot up by 5.11 per cent in the first six months of this year as compared to the same period last year. Continue reading “Crime and fear of crime worse than before Royal Police Commission period”

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IGP – Admit “fear of crime” as a new threat which police must target to wipe out in battle against crime

One common thread of the three public hearings of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance on “Fight Rising Crime” held in Johor Baru last Sunday, Petaling Jaya on Wednesday and Bukit Mertajam this morning is the palpable fear of crime which have gripped Malaysians in the hot spots of crime in the country.

Fifteen years ago, there was crime but “the fear of crime” had not surfaced in the country.

Today, in Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang, Penang, Ipoh, the “fear of crime” have come into the lives of Malaysians making them ever fearful about their own safety and those of their loved ones in the streets, public places and even when at home, gravely degrading the quality of life of Malaysians.

Up to now, the Police have only admitted to the problem of crime but not the “fear of crime” haunting and hounding the lives of Malaysians in the hot-spots of crime. If the police is not even prepared to admit that “the fear of crime” is as real and big as the problem of crime in the hot spots of crime in the country — inter-related but separate problems – how can the police successfully reduce and wipe out the “fear of crime”?

As a first step to effectively fight crime and the fear of crime, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan should openly admit that the “fear of crime” is a new threat which the police must target to wipe out in the battle against crime, with regular monitoring of the success of police performance on two separate measures – to reduce crime and the fear of crime. Continue reading “IGP – Admit “fear of crime” as a new threat which police must target to wipe out in battle against crime”

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Why with pay increase, police cannot assure public they are and feel safer in homes and communities

Another shocking crime report in today’s newspapers — “Man dies in bid to foil car theft” (The Star), how a factory worker Tan Chee Wai, 31, was stabbed to death near his home in Taman Seri Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, at 7 am yesterday to prevent four men from stealing a car.

In Johor Baru, a woman was slashed in the early hours of Thursday morning when she was robbed at a petrol kiosk to refill fuel.

The day before in Johor Baru, a Nanyang Siang Pau woman reporter who had told the Johor State Chief Police Officer the previous day that the crime situation in the town was so bad that she dared not come out at night was herself injured when she was a victim of an attempt snatch theft.

Nobody is safe from crime or spared from the fear of crime, particularly in the hot spots of crime in Johor Baru, Klang Valley, Penang and Ipoh — despite the recent increases in police pay and personnel as well as a lot of P.R. by top police officers.

Even the police are not safe in the privacy of their homes, as illustrated by the case of L/Kpl Redzuan Mat Nor, 41, from the Batu Arang police station, who was badly injured when he put up a fight when three robbers broke into his house in Taman Pelangi, Rawang last Saturday. Redzuan was slashed with a parang.

The question all Malaysians are entitled to demand an answer is why the Police cannot give clear-cut assurances that with recent pay increases, the people can be and feel safer in their homes and communities and the public can get better services from the police, with victims or witnesses to crimes treated better by the police? Continue reading “Why with pay increase, police cannot assure public they are and feel safer in homes and communities”

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Abdullah should intervene to “Free Nat Now” so that 50th Merdeka anniversary will not start off infamously

The Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must intervene to free Nathaniel Tan immediately to ensure that his administration does not start the slide down the slippery slope of repression to mark Malaysia’s 50th Merdeka anniversary — openly violating his pledges of an open, democratic, accountable and good governance when he was appointed to the highest office of the land 44 months ago.

The secretive circumstances in the first seven hours of arrest of Nathaniel Tan, an aide of Anwar Ibrahim and information bureau staff of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, where his friends, relatives and supporters had to go on a “wild goose chase” to locate his whereabouts with the police initially disclaiming knowledge and refusing to give information about his detention, is a scandal which speaks of a police which has yet to fully accept that the first principle of policing in a democratic system must be policing for the people and not policing to serve the government leaders of the day.

The irregular and illegal circumstances of Tan’s arrest, with the police spiriting him away for seven hours without proper accounting, raises the question as to the actual motives behind the police action.

Is Tan’s arrest the beginning of a clampdown on dissent and criticism particularly in the blogosphere?

Had Tan become a pawn in a trade-off among the powers-that-be in the political and police establishments to close ranks and protect their vested interests in the face of more and more specific and detailed allegations and increasing expose in the public domain of corruption, malpractices and abuses of power involving both the top political and police establishments? Continue reading “Abdullah should intervene to “Free Nat Now” so that 50th Merdeka anniversary will not start off infamously”

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Caucus public hearing in BM – let IGP declare police have no objection to media coverage

The Police should make clear that they are fully responsive to the people’s concerns about crime and the fear of crime by sending representatives to the third Parliamentary Caucus public hearing in Bukit Mertajam (at Jit Sin Chinese Independent Secondary School ) at 10 am on Sunday and declaring no police objections whatsoever to media coverage.

The Malaysian people cannot be blamed for concluding that the reason the second public hearing of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance on “Fight Rising Crime” in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday became a “closed session” which did not allow media reporting, which was a departure from the first public hearing in Johor Baru last Sunday, was because of police pressure.

This is not conducive to the police regaining full public confidence in its mission to fight and reduce crime and the fear of crime.

The Police should welcome opportunities such as the public hearings of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance to allow the people to speak their minds and adopt an open and positive attitude to public criticisms about the failings and failures of the police in its task to reduce crime and the fear of crime.

These criticisms are made not because the people are anti-police and want to indulge in police bashing, but because the people, like the Royal Police Commission which was formed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in one of his early initiatives when appointed to the highest office in the land 44 months ago, want to have a world-class police service which is efficient and professional enough to make the streets, public places and the privacy of homes safe and secure for citizens, tourists and investors.

Malaysians want the Police to be their friends and protectors and are prepared to give the Police all assistance and support to wipe out the country’s notoriety in crime and fear of crime, which former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Musa Hitam admitted a few days ago is a major disincentive for foreign investment. Continue reading “Caucus public hearing in BM – let IGP declare police have no objection to media coverage”

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Caucus public hearing becomes “closed session” – Police not prepared to be responsive

The absence of police officials and the need for the “public hearing” of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance on “Fight Rising Crime” in Petaling Jaya last night to become a “closed session” are clear proof that the Police is still not prepared to adopt a new paradigm of “policing for people” despite all talk of police “rebranding with a new vision and mission”.

Instead of thanking the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance for creating a meaningful forum for the police to hear the voices of the people about their concerns, fears, hopes and nightmares about crime and the fear of crime in various parts of the country, the police have adopted a far from appreciative attitude as illustrated by the absence of police officials at the public hearing in Petaling Jaya last night to hear out the people who are concerned about the law-and-order situation in the Klang Valley to attend and speak up at the three-hour session.

There is also no doubt that if the Police is prepared to fully respect and respond to the concerns of Malaysians about the law-and-order situation, there would have been no need for the Parliamentary Caucus public hearing to become a “closed session” with the media not allowed to report its proceedings.

The “Fight Rising Crime” public hearings of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance were never meant to be police-bashing exercises, and this was clearly understood by members of the public and the press as illustrated by the first public hearing of the caucus in Johor Baru last Sunday.

There is one common objective among those who attended the public hearing — to have a better-quality policing service to restore to Malaysians their most fundamental human right to be doubly free from crime and the fear of crime, so that citizens, tourists and investors can be safe and feel safe whether in the streets, public places or privacy of their residence.

During the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Royal Malaysian Police in March this year, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said that the police was being “rebranded with a new vision and mission in line with the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission”.

If so, then the Police must be guided by the strategic objective which the Royal Police Commission had spelt out for the Malaysian Police — “a world class, twenty-first century organization that is efficient, clean and trustworthy, dedicated to serving the people and the nation with integrity and respect for human rights”. Continue reading “Caucus public hearing becomes “closed session” – Police not prepared to be responsive”

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Anti-corruption record in tatters – top leaders caught in maze of corruption allegations

At the monthly assembly of the staff of ministries and agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department on July 2, 2007, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made the surprise announcement of the extension of the term of service of Tan Sri Musa Hassan as Inspector-General of Police to enable Musa to “continue with his crime-fighting agenda”. Musa is to retire on Sept. 13, 2007.

Such an announcement was most unprecedented for many reasons and the circumstances indicate that it was more a statement of intent on the Prime Minister’s part than a statement of fact in that all the due process of such an extension had been completed, including conveying the decision to the Conference of Rulers which will only meet later this month.

The very fact that no one knows for how long Musa’s term as IGP had been extended although it is more than a week after Abdullah’s surprise announcement lends support to the view that the Prime Minister’s statement was one of intent rather than of fact about Musa’s extension as IGP.

The question is why was it necessary for Abdullah to act in so uncharacteristic a fashion in “jumping the gun” to rush such an announcement of his intent to extend Musa’s term as IGP when there are more than two months to go before the expiry of the tenure, and when the practice is to make the announcement of such top-level appointments or their extensions at the last minute.

There are even cases where high offices are left vacant for months like the office of Chief Judge of Malaya, which had remained vacant for more than six months, raising the question whether the country is facing a constitutional crisis in filling top judicial posts.

Was Abdullah forced to announce his intent to extend the tenure of Musa as IGP when it only expires on Sept. 16 to fob off mounting pressures against the extension of Musa’s service, and if so, what are these pressures and reasons for them?

The most critical question which calls for Abdullah’s explanation is the reason for the double standards in extending Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s tenure as Inspector-General of Police while refusing to extend Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor’s term as Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general when serious corruption allegations against both remained outstanding and unresolved?

Deputy Internal Security Minister, Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum told Parliament during question time yesterday that “the Internal Security Ministry had lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) on the allegations of corruption involving Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan” about a RM2.1 million bribe to release a group of gangsters. Continue reading “Anti-corruption record in tatters – top leaders caught in maze of corruption allegations”

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Paradigm shift – from “Policing for government” to “Policing for People”

Yesterday, when commenting on the series of “Fight Rising Crime” public hearings of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abd Aziz said that the public must understand that the police cannot solve crimes on their own as cases involve members of the public themselves.

He said public co-operation was sometimes disappointing with many people preferring to “look the other way”.

Najib is right when he said that policing cannot be left to the police alone but must be a multi-faceted task by all relevant agencies and involve the co-operation of all stakeholders, in particular members of the public.

True, the maintenance of law-and-order and a low-crime society is not just a police problem but requires a holistic approach involving socio-economic, educational and even religious factors and problems such as migrant population, illegal immigrants and the drug menace.

However, the police must bear the greatest responsibility for effective policing because of their specific mission.

The police must undergo a paradigm shift from “Policing for Government” to “Policing for People” and accept public perceptions as of paramount importance in the evaluation of police performance in fighting crime and the fear of crime.

The first thing the Malaysian police must do is to come out of their denial syndrome claiming that law and order is under control and take full cognizance of pubic perceptions that the crime situation in the country, particularly in many black areas of crime, have gone from bad to worse.

At the first public hearing of the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance in Johor Baru on Sunday, the over-capacity crowd of over 600 people were asked three questions:

  • Whether they were satisfied with the police actions and measures which had been taken over the past month in Johor Baru as a result of the public outcry over a spate of brutal robbery-abduction-gang rape crimes;
  • Whether they agreed with the Police that the crime situation in JB had been brought under control; and
  • Whether they agreed with the Police that JB had become a safe city.

Not a hand went up for the “yes” vote for all three instances, as there was an unanimous show of hands to give a thunderous “no” to all three propositions — i.e. not satisfied with what the Police had done in JB in the past month despite stepped-up police activities, did not agree that the crime situation had been brought under control and did not agree that JB had become a safe city to the residents, visitors and investors.

The police may not like or agree with the three answers, but they must accept that it is the people in any area which must have the final say whether the crime situation is under control and has become safe – and they must go back to the drawing board to revise their policing strategy taking into account public perceptions which disagree with police conclusions. Continue reading “Paradigm shift – from “Policing for government” to “Policing for People””

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“Policing for People” – police revolution needed

I was for a short stint a resident of JB, staying here for almost a year some 47 years ago.

JB has changed quite out of recognition in the past four to five decades, both for good and ill.

Firstly, I would not qualify to be a JB-ite, as there are people who now say that you are not a true JB-ite unless you have been a victim of snatch theft, robbery or other crime in JB.

Secondly, the haze from Indonesia forest fires are back, but in JB the people had been under a permanent haze in the past two decades with the JB air thick with the fear of crime which haunts the people, turning their waking hours into nightmares about their personal safety and those of their loved ones whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes.

Why is the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance starting its series of public hearings on “Fight Rising Crime” in Johor Baru?

Firstly, JB is the capital of crime with the worst crime index and the worst fear of crime for any metropolitan area in the country.

The Police have said the crime in JB is under control and that it is a safe city to live. Whether crime in JB is under control and a safe city must be a verdict made by the people of Johor and not the Police — and this is the reason for the Parliamentary Caucus’ public hearing.

This is also why there should be a police revolution and not just police reform in the country where the concept of “Policing for People” becomes the overriding objective of the Malaysian Police in democratic Malaysia, with the people as the primary voice in determining the police role, responsibility and strategy in fighting and reducing crime in JB, Johore and Malaysia.

We cannot continue to be in denial any more about the high crime index and oppressive fear of crime in JB.

We should not need to cross the Causeway to Singapore to feel safe. If we are not ambitious enough to make JB even safer than Singapore, we have the right to demand that residents, visitors and investors should feel as safe in JB as in Singapore.

We have a right to demand that the definition that a person is not a true JB-ite unless he or she had been a victim of crime in JB becomes history and a nightmare of the past. Continue reading ““Policing for People” – police revolution needed”

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Let JB be national test case – whether can wipe ouf “fear of crime” before it spreads further

I remember when I stayed for a short stint in Johor Baru for about a year some 47 years ago, the Johor capital like other parts of the country was generally safe and secure from crime for its residents and visitors and the term ” fear of crime” never existed.

This was the position until some 20 years ago, when the law-and-order infrastructure and institutions failed to keep abreast with the rapid socio-economic developments and changes, and Johor Baru together with other metropolitan areas like Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Penang, increasingly acquired the notoriety as “hot spots” of crime where it residents are not only victims of high crime rate but live in fear of crime.

JB outranks all the other urban centres in the country as the capital of crime where the fear of crime haunting the daily lives of its residents is most palpable like a permanent haze in the JB air.

Let JB be a national test case whether it is possible to wipe out the fear of crime which is haunting the daily life of the people of JB or the fear of crime will worsen and spread to other parts of the country with the police losing the long-term war against crime. Continue reading “Let JB be national test case – whether can wipe ouf “fear of crime” before it spreads further”