When in his Hari Raya message last week the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak pledged “a safe Malaysia” by assuring that all agencies responsible will be more effective in tackling crime to enhance security in the country, it raised eyebrows and queries among thinking Malaysians for two reasons:

Firstly, the assurance of a safe country is the most basic and fundamental duty of any functioning and successful government. The Barisan Nasional Government has claimed to be a very successful government, even making the Barisan Nasional election theme “Janji Ditepati” the 55th Merdeka Day/49th Malaysia Day theme! Why then the need to make such a pledge after 55 years of governing the country, unless Malaysia is no more as safe a country for its citizens, investors and tourists as in the past decades?

Secondly, the “safe Malaysia” theme of Najib’s Hari Raya message is even more baffling when his government has been trumpeting its extraordinary success and “Big Wins” in its Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and National Key Result Area (NKRA) in reducing crime – i.e. in 2011, drop in street crime by 39.7% and drop in overall crime index by 11.1% although Malaysians have never felt so unsafe in public places or even in the privacy of their homes!

Now, Malaysians are beginning to understand why Najib has made “a safe Malaysia” the main theme of his Hari Raya message last week.

Was Najib aware of the doctored crime statistics in the GTP/NKRA reports which caused him to single out a “safe Malaysia” as the theme of his Hari Raya message last week, to try to assure Malaysians who have never felt so unsafe because nobody in Malaysia really believed or trusted in the official crime statistics about fall in crime rates and street crime?

This is the fifth day of thunderous and deafening silence whether from the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin or the two GTP/NKRA Ministers Datuk Sri Idris Jala and Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to the expose by the “whistleblower” Police Officer of 30 years’ service about manipulation and doctoring of crime statistics to give a false picture of drastic fall in crime rate in the past three years, when this was not the true situation.

Najib must be forewarned that public confidence in his grand transformation programmes, whether GTP or ETP, will evaporate into thin air if the three Ministers could not provide a credible rebuttal to the expose by the “whistleblower” police officer of fake or doctored crime statistics.