My third of three urgent motions for Parliament this week was rejected by the Speaker Tan Si Ramli Ngah this morning.
My motion today is to have an urgent parliamentary debate on the recent spate of brutal robbery-cum-gang rapes in Johor Baru which had sparked public outcry nationwide over police failure to control and reduce crime with Malaysians feeling very unsafe in the streets, public places and the privacy of their homes.
I have never felt more ashamed as a MP when my urgent motion was rejected.
For the past week, Malaysians had been haunted by the spectre of rampant crime and lawlessness which had been highlighted almost on a daily basis by the brutal crimes in the nation’s capital of crime — Johor Baru.
The Cabinet yesterday discussed about the problem of crime and lawlessness in Johor Baru and the country. Everyone is concerned except Parliament!
Why is Parliament so blissfully unconcerned and indifferent about the rampant crime and lawlessness in JB and Malaysia?
All responsible and conscientious MPs regardless of party must feel very ashamed that Parliament has proved to be so irrelevant and impervious about the crying concerns of Malaysians regardless of race and religion, whether in Johor Baru or anywhere in the country — about their personal safety and those of their loved ones, not to be victims of the crime wave and lawlessness sweeping the country.
Today’s press reported another two brutal crimes in Johor Baru yesterday — gang rape of a Malay girl and a Chinese girl, bearing out the headline of Sin Chew Daily today “Any race could be a victim”!
The Cabinet was a great disappointment yesterday, as apart from newspaper headlines of Cabinet orders to crackdown on crime in JB, there was nothing new.
The announcement of 400 more cops in the streets in JB and new temporary police stations had already been announced two days earlier by the Health Minister, Datuk Chua Soi Lek.
The people of JB and Malaysia had expected more concrete action from yesterday’s Cabinet meeting but none was forthcoming.
The people of JB and Malaysia want assurances from the Cabinet that actions would be taken where they and their loved ones could immediately feel safe in the streets, public places and the privacy of their homes and not in the future, whether three or six months’ time.
The people of JB and Malaysia are tired of too many assurances of “actions to be taken” in the past, whether by the Prime Minister or the Inspector-General of Police to fight crime but which had proved to be mere empty words.
Johor Baru, as the nation’s capital of crime, should be declared a “hot spot” crime area, and there should be a three-month action plan to wipe out JB’s notoriety as the top crime spot in the country with daily public monitoring of the progress of the war against crime in JB.