Hishamuddin should stop acting as Super-IGP to shield IGP Musa Hassan from public flak for police abuses of power in allowing galloping crime while channelling scarce police resources to side with BN in political cases


The new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is lately behaving like a Super-IGP instead of being a responsible Home Minister to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to end the galloping crime in the past five years to restore to Malaysians, visitors and investors their two fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

Yesterday, he warned the PKR Youth “not to create chaos” at the Jalan Duta court complex when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy trial begins while three days ago he warned the Johore State Assembly Opposition Leader, DAP Johore Chairman and State Assemblyman for Skudai, Dr. Boo Cheng Hau that he would be investigated for the offence of “sedition” – just as the police had lodged a report against me during the Penanti by-election for the offence of sedition during the Penanti by-election in May.

In the past several months, the police have been dragooned from its first and primary duties to reduce crime and make the country safe for citizens, visitors and investors to serve the political agenda of the Barisan Nasional government, whether at the federal or state level, and one consequence is the worsening of an already very endemic crime situation in the country.

The adverse consequences of such diversion of the police from their proper anti-crime duties to become agents to serve the political agenda of the Barisan Nasional is best illustrated by the rising crime rate in Perak in the first half of the year.

Crimes involving robbery, car theft and snatching in Perak has leapt up in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Cases involving robbery increased by 197 cases from 541 cases in the first six months of last year to 739 cases this year which was a 36.35% hike.

Car theft from January to June this year went up from 55 for all of last year to 138 cases in the first six month period this year that is a jump of 150.91%.

Cases of motorcycle theft also rose from 2,287 in the first six month period last year to 2,398 in the same period this year (a 4.85% rise).

Snatch thefts rose from 195 cases to 268 cases in the first half of the year, that is by 37.44%.

The districts of Ipoh, Manjung, Taiping and Hilir Perak were where most of the crimes happened.

These statistics were given by the Perak chief police officer, Datuk Zulkefli Abdullah, himself although he attributed the causes to economic slump along with unemployment.

But there can be no doubt that a major cause was the inability of the over-stretched police personnel to focus on their primary duty to fight crime as they were dragooned in their hundreds to arrest Malaysians wearing black, lighting candles, holding fasts or gathering peacefully to protest against the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak by the Barisan Nasional – which the police should have no business to get involved to prop up the unethical and illegal Perak state government!

Of course, the most unforgettable public memory of the gross misuse of police powers and resources was the physical dragging out of the legitimate Perak Speaker, V. Sivakumar in Speaker’s robes in Speaker’s Chair from the Perak State Assembly on May 7 Day of Infamy in Perak by plainclothes police personnel!

Hishamuddin duty as Home Minister is to arrest and reverse the tide of crime in the past five years and fulfil the objectives of the Police Royal Commission to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service with three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.

He had started on the right footing when he announced in the middle of last month that he will revisit together with the Inspector-General of Police the 125 recommendations in 2005 put out by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police.

He pledged: “If there are proposals that have not taken off yet, we want to expedite them.”

The biggest failure of the police is its failure to reduce crime. The Police Royal Commission had found the annual incidence of crime of over 150,000 cases in 2004 as intolerable, unable to protect the safety of the people and likely to frighten off investors.

The Commission recommended as an immediate target the reduction of the incidence of crime by 20 per cent in 12 months after publication of the Report.

Instead of reducing crime, the crime index shot through the 200,000 cases in 2007 and 2008!

Another big failure is in not implementing the key recommendation of the Police Royal Commission to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Hopes that Hishammuddin will be able to conduct a meaningful second look at the 125 recommendations of the Police Royal Commission were very short-lived, as he backed off when he found opposition from the police headed by the Inspector-General of Police.

How can there be any second look, let alone meaningful second look, unless Tan Sri Musa Hassan, the person responsible for the failures to implement, both the spirit and letter of the 125 recommendations of the Police Royal Commission, is replaced with a new IGP?

A question I had asked in the recent Parliament, and suitably modified, is whether the IGP is answerable to the Home Minister or is the Home Minister answerable to the IGP!

Hishammuddin stop playing as Super-IGP. His role is to be an effective and responsible Home Minister exercising proper direction and charge of the police portfolio to Parliament and the Malaysian people.

  1. #1 by Emily Pratt on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 2:58 pm

    YB Lim,

    How can we force the current IGP to resign? He is a nincompoop just like Badawi. He is doing a lousy job as a crime-fighter, we don’t need deadwood lying around collecting fat salary and delivering nothing.

    Please advise. Thank you.

    Emily Pratt

  2. #2 by k1980 on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 3:29 pm

    Will the current IGP resign? Sure, if he is appointed advisor to Petronas or ambassador to the USA. But not if he is merely appointed as penghulu of Kg Buah Pala, with only 23 families to lord over.

  3. #3 by rabbit on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 4:29 pm

    k1980, he he he you got the point ah IGP is busy deal with PKR now, where got time for rakyat malaysia leh? he is working for BN only. wondering, did he know who is boss? hehehe

  4. #4 by cintanegara on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 5:01 pm

    In our beloved country, the law covers equal employment opportunity and anti-discrimination in the workplace. All employers are protected and required by this law to create a workplace free from discrimination …… According to the regulations, a qualified individual is eligible to hold any position in the Police Force, Military, Top Government Agencies etc.

    There are thousands and thousands examples out there and I just took a few to keep your eyes wide open….

    – Dato Koh Hung Sun (Present Director, Commercial Crime)
    – Dato Christopher Wan (Ex-CID Director, Ex Penang CPO)
    – Dato Seri Yuen Yuet Leng (Ex Perak CPO)
    – Dato Arthur Edmunds (
    – Dato’ Tan Eng Seng, (First Admiral, Malaysian Navy)

    We are indeed fortunate to have such a fair Government serving the people….However, our friends (14% of the country population) who live not far from here are not so fortunate…. Of course, I am not exaggerating …Pls refer to Loh’s comments dated June 24th (Unity Govt a betrayal all around, This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 06: 29.32)..I believe Loh is one of DAP core supporters…

    Loh said,

    XX leaders did say that to prevent Malays from having to be torn between the love for XX and for the race, if she should fight with Malaysia, they had a policy of preventing Malays holding the top position in arm forces. It should be noted that there are many professional careers in government, and armed forces are the only branch where the careers of Malays could be restricted for specific reasons. Those who are good enough for the top positions in Armed forces would have been able to obtain alternate employment in civilian branches, of equal high standing. It is true that race did become a factor on this particular occupation, but then the need for national service in XX

  5. #5 by YK Leong on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 5:28 pm

    “The adverse consequences of such diversion of the police from their proper anti-crime duties to become agents to serve the political agenda of the Barisan Nasional is best illustrated by the rising crime rate in Perak in the first half of the year”.

    See the wastges of police resources in Perak in the first half of 2009:-
    1. Power grap in Perak in February 2009.
    2. Setting up routine roadblocks after the power grap.
    3. Under the tree meeting in March 2009.
    4. Guarding and blocking the entrance to Perak LA in March 2009.
    5. Stand-by duties after Nizar was declared the legal MB by High Court.
    6. Storming of the Perak State Assembly on 7 May 2009.
    7. Detaining people wearing black attires on 7 May 2009.
    8. Wasting time taking police statements from the detainees on 7 May 2009.
    9. Providing night guarding services for DAP (guarding Perak DAP hq.) in May 2009.

  6. #6 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 8:09 pm

    Why is the new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, so afraid of Tan Sri Musa Hassan?? I guest the latter must have threatened Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that should he go ahead to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), he (Tan Sri Musa Hassan) would ask the police to stop supporting BN.

  7. #7 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 8:41 pm

    Ooop!! Correction: ‘I guest’ should be ‘I guess’.

  8. #8 by tanjong8 on Wednesday, 8 July 2009 - 11:42 pm

    When Krishamudin replaced Syed Hamid, the Botak, we thought that it is for the better as the latter was really so bad that Najib had to get rid of him.

    Now as it turns out, there is really nothing to choose from these 2 chaps from Johore.

    The public had to wait another 4 years before there is hope for things to get better.

  9. #9 by johnnypok on Thursday, 9 July 2009 - 1:26 am

    He should also consider plastic surgery to reduce the size of his big mouth, so that he cannot talk too much.

  10. #10 by frankyapp on Thursday, 9 July 2009 - 3:45 am

    I think the majority of the citizens want the IGP to resign as he has failed the rakyat’s desires to keep the crime rate low.The rakyat is also pretty unhappy because he blatantly works vigorously for Umno/Bn political leaders and secretly helps some selected Umno/Bn warlords’s underground business.The IPG does not respect the rakyat but respects and obeys those who are responsible to his appointment as IPG .He knows he works for the rakyat who pays him his huge salary,he knows too the rakyat has no power to sack him,therefore when the rakyat needs his help,he does not care but when the PM or the MOHAs or some powerful and filty rich Umnowarlords’s needed him,he springs into action like the movie’s hero “Rambo”.What does all these mean to the rakyat ?.I think we are wasting our hard earned money on him. If he has good conscience,he should resign like a man.

  11. #11 by boh-liao on Thursday, 9 July 2009 - 9:13 am

    How can Umnoputras not be grateful and scared of MH?
    MH knows many deep dark secrets of Umno
    Ask MMK
    Furthermore, M’sia is almost a police state
    From the actions of police (especially the speed)
    do we see our police work for the rakyat or Umno/BN?
    Also, HH wants police to protect his cousin

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