When DAP Penang State Assemblyman for Komtar, Ng Wei Aik, lodged a police report against the Second Finance Minister Datuk Husni Hanadzlah for uttering racially inflammatory remarks on Tuesday, there was an immediate response from the Federal CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin who was in Penang at the time.
Bakri asked at a news conference: “Do you want the police to fight crime or investigate political matters?”
The answer is clear and unequivocal, the first task of the police is to fight crime and to ensure that Malaysians, investors and tourists feel safe from crime and are liberated from the fear of crime – two major failures of the Malaysian police in the past decade.
Despite the establishment of a Royal Police Commission and its recommendations in 2005 to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service in Malaysia, crime index in the country has continued to mount until the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had to admit that it is one of the six priority challenges of his administration.
Despite all the publicity of KPI (key performance index) and NKRAs (National Key Result Areas) in fighting crime in the past year, the police has yet to break the back of the problem of high crime rate and prevalent fear of crime among Malaysians, tourists and investors – the very definition of an unsafe country!
Nobody will agree more with Bakri that the first task of the police is to fight crime and not to get involved in political matters – but this is something that the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein do not seem to grasp.
Otherwise, why is the Police harassing the Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, two Penang Deputy Chief Ministers Mansor Othman and Professor P. Ramasamy, Penang Exco members including Abdul Malik Kassim and Chow Kon Yeow and Pakatan Rakyat national leaders like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim – with the police lodging 11 of the 12 police reports against the PK leaders themselves?
Although the Inspector-General of Police has denied bias and claimed that the police have lodged reports against politicians from both sides of the political divide, Musa has not been able to cite the instances when the Police had lodged reports against the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Barisan Nasional Chief Ministers and Mentris Besar or taken action against them!
Can Musa provide the answers? Of course not, because this has never been done!
It is precisely because key national institutions, like the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, have allowed themselves to be used as catspaws in the Umno/Barisan Nasional political agenda and chessboards and failed in their primary duties (to fight crime for police and to combat corruption for MACC) that they have not been able to regain national and international confidence about their efficiency, competence, professionalism and integrity.
With the police recently lodging 11 reports against Pakatan Rakyat leaders, the Malaysian police must have set a record in the most number of “political” reports it had lodged in such a short span of time.
Why is this taking place under Hishammuddin as Home Minister?
Is Hishammuddin going to involve police in greater political harassment of Pakatan Rakyat leaders when he should be asking the police to single-mindedly fight crime to make Malaysia a safe country again for Malaysians, foreign investors and tourists?
#1 by Black Arrow on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 1:49 pm
PDRM is a subsidiary of BN. When Pakatan comes to power, it must revamp the whole police force.
#2 by Bigjoe on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 2:06 pm
The simple answer is OF COURSE! But at this point they are doing it because they don’t know what else to do. They are lost sheeps who keep running in circles. Its like prodigal children who woke up to realise their inheritance is fast dissappearing Don’t know what to do so keep spending and enjoying until its all gone..
#3 by jus legitimum on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 2:06 pm
These idiots can only speak with forked tongues and impudently practise double standards.To get rid of all these scumbags and in order to live in a safe and crime free environment,all the voters must vote for PR in the next GE so that the new central government can revamp all the rotten machinery under BN including the PDRM.
#4 by dagen on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 2:57 pm
The further those idiots extend the circle of their influence and control the clearer is the fact that their powers are waning and that they are panicking.
#5 by frankyapp on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 2:59 pm
Is Hishammuddin going to involve police in greater political harassment of Pakatan Rakyat leaders when he should be asking the police to single-mindedly fight crime to make Malaysia a safe country again for Malaysians, foreign investors and tourists?
Yes this’s a pretty good question but it would fall on deaf ears. The HM’s and the PDRM’s ears are only open to listening from their masters respectively. Anything,if it is not pleasing to Umno/Bn crooks and cronies from the opposition would be barred from their ears by their masters via auto remote control.Why do you think,there were almost a dozen of police themselves making report against opposition members especially LGE the penang chief minister. Since when we ever heard about police making report against a chief minister or MB in any BN control states under its 53 years of administration.The police force is suppose to be the eyes and ears of the rakyat,the enforcer and protector of the rules and laws of the country to its best ability for the people and country. But now it seemed that the police is the eyes ,ears,enforcer and protector for Umno/Bn only. This is a dangerous diease and should it goes on like this,the inevitable consequences are devastating to people and country. NR,please stop it now before it’s too late.
#6 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 3:42 pm
Our police have an excuse of not having enough manpower and time to fight crime when they are deluged with police reports. Not only the police themselves lodge reports (11 of these against Pakatan’s leaders) but also they have to face hundreds of reports lodged per day against a backlog of hundreds of thousands to be proceed as to whether worthy of investigation.
Lodging a police report is becoming a national past time. One does not lodge a report just because an obvious crime has been committed; one lodges it whenever there is dissatisfaction of another person’s conduct or spoken/written words and hope that after investigation it will be a proven offence and even if not it has a harassment and propaganda value. No one is immune from a police report. Even in the highest in government (PM/DPM) or in the Opposition (Anwar, Kit/Karpal/Nik Aziz), the AG & IGP himself, Menteri Besars all have police reports lodged against them – one time or another.
I guess lodging a police report (other than a false one) to assuage one’s dissatisfaction is the only legal and democratic right that Malaysians passionately exercise (with minimum inconvenience and prospects of maximum on the part of the party against whom the report is made. It does not surprise if Malaysia were the country with highest per capita number of police reports in the world.
Of course police will not investigate all reports. However under the law they are required. The Criminal Procedure Code imposes the duty on the police to receive police reports, and the complainant making the report is entitled the right to inquire after 4 weeks of complaint being lodged on how is the follow up and status of investigation. If police do not evince any work done or do not respond to enquiry one can write directly to the Attorney General’s Chambers of that failure giving details of the investigating Officer’s name, phone number, reference number of the police report and copies of any accompanying documents….
There must be thousands and thousands of reports which police have to look into – at least when the complainant follows up and ask for status….. Due to penchant of Malaysians to lodge reports for every conceivable and perceived injury or offence that potentially requires looking into, these police reports alone, and the sheer paper work involved, may be the main tax on police manpower and time that distract them from otherwise single-mindedly pursuing criminals and fighting crime.
#7 by yhsiew on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 4:24 pm
///the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, have allowed themselves to be used as catspaws in the Umno/Barisan Nasional political agenda and chessboards…/// (Kit)
The ruling party wants to turn Malaysia into another Myanmar.
#8 by yhsiew on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 4:42 pm
Bullying and intimidation are well-known tactics used by BN to harass the Opposition so as to deter them from spreading their influence.
PDRM and its scrumbags must be removed once PR comes to power.
#9 by lucia on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 8:21 pm
“do you want the police to fight crime or investigate political matters?”
why didn’t the police asked this to those who made police report against PR leaders?
definitely 2malaysia in the making! gonna post this in the 2malaysia facegroup. come and join 2malaysia:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=326317306278
#10 by ktteokt on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 10:14 pm
My neighbour’s house (4 houses away from my house) has just been robbed this morning. Looks like public security is in real bad shape! Isn’t the IGP and our Home Minister who don’t seem to be at home answerable for all these?
#11 by limkamput on Thursday, 11 March 2010 - 10:56 pm
Jeffrey, why are telling grand mother stories again. Just tell us whether police act fair or not, no need to divert and tell stupid stories.
#12 by alwaysfair on Friday, 12 March 2010 - 1:44 am
The whole group act like the mafia to harass and threaten our elected reps, they should know that the reps represent us and to threaten them is to bully us too. These people have got no shame and have already sunked to the lowest levels of humanity.
They forget they are servants of the people and not Lords. May God have mercy upon us and destroy our oppressors
#13 by Jeffrey on Friday, 12 March 2010 - 1:33 pm
Lim Kam Put – your posting #11, if you think it is “grand mother stories”, you can always skip them, and no one especially me, will not miss your paying no attention to them.
The subject in the thread permits one to deal with it in more than one axis/angle – whether police act fair or not (which probably all here are agreed as to the verdict and does require me to affirm it).
It is my prerogative to deal with the subject from any angle I deem relevant as it is your prerogative not to read any thing that you do not wish or anything I post.
The fact that you are distinguished for one tracked mind of viewing a subject from only one axis – police acted fairly or not – does not mean anyone else has to follow, along a single axis.
Seriously even if I think you are perpetual leaking mental sludge, do you hear me calling your comments are stupid grand mother stories?
If you want to hear real grandmother stories, I can start but they won’t reflect well on you.
#14 by Jeffrey on Friday, 12 March 2010 - 1:34 pm
“….all here are agreed as to the verdict and does NOT require me to affirm it…”
#15 by limkamput on Friday, 12 March 2010 - 3:51 pm
Sure it is your prerogative to write but it is also my prerogative to comment. The point here is you have written something totally irrelevant tantamounting to diverting the issue at hand. What new axis or angle are you talking about? What new insight are you providing?
Let me quote what you wrote: “There must be thousands and thousands of reports which police have to look into – at least when the complainant follows up and ask for status….. Due to penchant of Malaysians to lodge reports for every conceivable and perceived injury or offence that potentially requires looking into, these police reports alone, and the sheer paper work involved, may be the main tax on police manpower and time that distract them from otherwise single-mindedly pursuing criminals and fighting crime.”
Based on what your wrote, one can infer that:
1. Police are busy, not all reports will be be given equal attention. But you have no idea how police decide on which report to be given priority, am I right?
2. Police are not able to do ‘policing’ well because they are too many reports, many of which are due to penchant of Malaysians to lodge reports. The questions you have to ask is why so many Malaysians are so disatisfied and continue to make police reports. I think you know the answer if you honest enough.
3. If you do not belong to the right camp, do you think you can get away with making false/flagrant police reports?
4. Right now if you hear nothing after making a police, may I know what avenue you have? Seriously, you write to AG, then what?
I think if you understand what Justice N H Chan said and I quote, “But why is it that when the law is against the Government of the day these same judges would not decide according to law? One wonders!” then it is not too difficult for you to understand what the police are doing. It is totally unnecessary for you to tell grandmother story anymore (yes, it is grandmother story, not new axis or new angle or new insight, sorry).
#16 by Jeffrey on Friday, 12 March 2010 - 4:36 pm
I am just pointing out the fact that police is deluged with police reports that their duty to process them will hinder their other police work. What input you want on the question of whether police act fair or not that every one else knows? Since you say it is also your prerogative to comment, please remember this, as it operates both ways by this standard.
#17 by Black Arrow on Saturday, 13 March 2010 - 9:38 am
Certainly the police seemed to have step-up their harassment on PR leaders. No wonder the crime rate is soaring these days.
BN is nothing but a tyrant. It is time to put their reign to a swift end.
On another off-topic, GST is going to be launched by BN Govt soon to strangle the poor. GST stands for Go Strangle Them (poor) for money.
#18 by Comrade on Saturday, 13 March 2010 - 2:26 pm
Hi, Black Arrow. If the gov’t GST (Go Strangle Them) the poor for money, then we also GST (Go Stop Them) the BN parties this coming GE13 voting in PR to give Malaysia a better future.
#19 by tameupara on Monday, 15 March 2010 - 12:01 am
Indeed, after so many years of helping the so-called “UMNOputras”, we need to help the real bumiputras regardless of their ethnic!
But I dare those “UMNOputras” have the gut and wisdom to let it done… poor malaysian rakyat!