Is Malaysia turning into a wild wild west country?

Dato Zaid Ibrahim stated it rhetorically- the PM can do it. But doing IT requires a resolute and ruthless character- in a good way. Najib the dawdler isn’t going to accomplish it. Whatever the it means.He has shown to be lesser than Pak Lah in so many ways.

It was his slothfulness that allowed parties to continue insulting the religion of others. Nowadays it’s fashionable to vilify and insult Islam. The first that raised communal temperatures up many notches was the case of the infamous porn pair- Alvin and Vivian. The pair is affectionately hero-figured as alvivi?How insane.

The police should have arrested them early, have them brought before the court and sentence passed quickly. Speedy sentencing probably involving an extended jail sentence would have the deterrent effect- that was wanted. There must be laws that must be given their ordinary and common meaning – that it is wrong to insult the religion of others.

Instead the issue was allowed to drag on thus allowing people to rationalise about the issue. The point is- through the passage of time the severity of the issue becomes dulled. If the pair were dealt decisively, it’s possible that subsequent videos having  similar intent- whether called dark comedy or whatever will be avoided. Because then the makers of such dark comedy who did what they do just for the kick of it, will be dissuaded on pain of incarceration.

So, unless you are decisive and ruthless, you can do it. Otherwise forget it.

Let’s move on to another weightier issue. The state of our homeland security. Here is the perception which the Home Minister needs to look into. The public perceives the country as being governed by gangsters. We are ruled by a bunch of gangsters intent on looting the country’s coffers masquerading the pillage and plunder as development projects. They are in turn protected by gangsters in uniform- the police intent on protecting the interests of the powerful and the propertied ruling elite. Police go after petty crimes with vigour but pussyfoot when it comes to tackling the killings, armed robberies, car-jacking, the state of general lawlessness. Police do what the bandaraya people do- take down ah long’s pamphlets pasted on trees rather than going after the loan sharks, rather than going to the money launderers masked as legitimate businesses. How many million people suffer from foot ailments which require treatment at reflexology centres? I have seen proprietors of reflexology centres banking in cash up RM100k a day wondering how many million feet were treated in a day?And there are so many thousands of reflexology centres.

So how does the Home Minister plan to deal with this matter? It’s easy to subscribe to the argument that in order to eliminate the criminal activities that are taking place right now- robberies, shootings, gangsterism, we must bring back the Emergency Ordinance and the ISA.  The cave-man mentality in Zahid comes to the surface at last. We are presented with a home Minister incapable of rigorously applying existing laws which the AG says are sufficient to deal with the matters at hand.So he comes out with base ball bat.

So Zahid Hamidi and the Police Officers thinking the same way, cited the lack of legislation such as ISA and OA as excuses for the rise in crime. Why should be bring back ISA and OA if all this while we were told, that rising crime is only a perception? This means, on paper crime is rising but in actuality, no. hence the assassination of a former banker is only death on paper, the spate of armed robberies, inter-gang wars are only narratives by the newspapers but not reflection of the actual happenings.

We seem to be missing the point- criminal activities require the response of better policing and better policing require better quality policemen. I have had the honour of meeting up with many conscientious and duty conscious police personnel- ordinary men trained in their field of choice to enforce domestic peace. But public perception of Police leadership is another matter. Better quality police must start with ensuring the police leadership is exemplary and trustworthy.

We need to bring back the IPCMC not ISA or the EO. Instead we have the Home Affairs Minister saying the proposals set out in the IPCMC under the stewardship of a former CJ and having as its members eminently qualified people including a former much celebrated IGP as making proposals against the constitution. Surely these people have the wisdom and foresight to propose the agenda set out in the IPCMC in accordance to the Constitution? 

Posted by sakmongkol AK47