The price of freedom is more shootings, warns Mahathir

Malaysians will have to get used to the apparent increase in killings on the streets as it is the "price of more freedom", former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

This is because, Mahathir said, greater civil liberties mean that the authorities can no longer take preventive action to stop such a crime.

"The price of freedom, of liberalism, of being free to say what you like, the price is people get killed.

"But it’s alright. Until a crime is committed, you can't do anything (to) prevent it from happening. You must wait for the crime to happen first, before you take action.

"A poor chap has been shot and he's dead, then we go to trial," Mahathir told reporters today at a press conference.

Mahathir commented on the recent shootings when he was asked about whether he was concerned that situation in Egypt might happen in Malaysia.

To this, he said: “Malaysians are very nice people. They don't like killing each other. Except nowadays killing is a little bit more frequent. Everyday somebody gets shot.”

The recent spate of shootings throughout the country – 30 cases since April – have alarmed the public.

In the latest case, a woman escaped with slight injuries on Tuesday when her car was shot at during a car-jacking attempt in Kuantan.

Mahathir was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Perdana Global Peace Foundation on the Palestinian cause.

Mohd Azumi Mohamed, who moderated a panel on the needs of the Palestinians at the conference, said that Malaysians should be grateful for their liberties if compared to Palestinians.

“When the Internal Security Act was introduced, there was hue and cry in Malaysia. Malaysians demanding freedom to express themselves.

“Let me remind you that Palestinians are dictated by Israel hands... For more than 10 people to gather, Palestinians need approval from the Israeli Defence Force. How fortunate and blessed we are as Malaysians in Malaysia,” he said.