Honouring the memory of Corporal Zal Azri Abd Somad

 

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Those who live in Malaysia have little respect for the police. We have nothing but disgust for the previous and current Home Ministers who have responsibility for the Police Force.

The previous Home Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein has shamed us in many ways. I will mention only five of them here.

1. Hisham waved the keris at several Umno meetings from 2005 – 2008 in the context of Malay nationalism, commonly viewed as Malay Supremacy. Many political commentators linked Hisham’s keris waving to the political tsunami in 2008 when Umno-BN lost its two-thirds majority in the Federal Government.
2. Hisham rose to the defence of a brazen group of about 50 Muslims who marched with the head of a cow from a mosque in Shah Alam to the Selangor state government headquarters, then stomped and spit upon it to show how they felt about a proposal to build a Hindu temple at a site in Section 23, Shah Alam.
3. Hisham defended the police when six members of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) were immorally detained in 2010 for 28 days and were maliciously accused of many falsehoods including attempts to use force to attempt an insurrection.
4. Hisham defended the police use of tear gas, acid-laced water and various kinds of brutality upon peaceful protesters during the BERSIH marches.
5. Hisham even had people arrested because they wore yellow!

The current Home Minister, Zahid Hamidi has been in the job for only 3 months, but has also shamed us in many ways. I will again restrict my recall to five shameful things:

1. Zahid was ordered by the Court of Appeal to answer charges that he assaulted businessman Amir Abdul Bazli on 16 January 2006 in Kajang.
2. Zahid, in one of his first statements as Home Minister, said those who are not happy with the government (which means the majority of those who voted in the 13^th General Elections this year) should leave the country.
3. Zahid, without any investigation, said the police were not complicit in the attempted assassination of Sanjeevan who heads the MyWatch anit-crime watchdog group.
4. Zahid watches idly as the police detain close to 6,000 alleged gangsters for up to 72 days through “Ops Cantas,” but charge only a minute number of them.
5. Zahid who lives in fear of Chin Peng’s ashes, says Chin Peng did not take two chances given to him to return to Malaysia, while Chin Peng’s lawyers say all of Chin Peng’s applications to return were denied.

We have no respect for the Home Ministers who are responsible for the police force. (You can add much to my list, including their terms as Education and Defence Ministers.)

We have no respect for the top echelon of the Police Force because we have too often seen them lying about deaths in custody. In fact, in Malaysia, many consider it dangerous to go to police stations. Even an ex-cop like P.I. Bala disappeared after voluntarily going to a police station. And Teoh Beng Hock, Ahmad Sarbani, Darmendran and many more.

[Note: a TMI reader has corrected me: Beng Hock and Sarbani died after going to MACC (Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission) premises.]

And we remember 15 year old unlicensed driver Aminulrasyid Amzah who died after he was shot at 21 times by the police who pursued him (for good reasons) past midnight on 26 April 2010. The police still haven’t admitted they used excessive force.

We also have no respect for general policemen – most of us don’t even bother to report crimes anymore. We know the police have no time for dealing with crimes committed against common citizens. Instead, the ruling elite tell us the crime rate is going down!

But wait a minute.

How about people like Dato’ Ramli Yusuff, former Director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department, whom the government tried to frame because of his integrity? How about the 6 police officers who helped gather data against Musa Hassan (former IGP) to show his links to a crime syndicate in Johor? They are good cops!

How about people like those in the police station in Damansara Utama who registered the deaths of my father and later my mother? They are amongst the kindest and most respectful police personnel I have ever met. They are good cops!

How about the young policemen who remained so calm in Kuala Lumpur during one BERSIH protest I attended, despite being vigorously provoked by a group of Anti-Lynas protesters? (A post for which I was roundly criticized is Spare a Thought for Policemen.)

Most of all, how about 31 year old Corporal Zal Azri Abd Somad who died in the line of duty, leaving behind a wife and two children? (link to story in NST)

Corporal Zal-Azri died in the line of duty.

Corporal Zal-Azri chased and caught up with a suspect who was fleeing the scene of an attempted robbery at a factory in Malacca, about 8 am on Monday 23 September.

The suspect turned upon Corporal Azri and attacked him. Corporal Azri died after having his head battered with a rock.

Corporal Zal-Azri suffered injuries on his face, head and body. He probably struggled to get to help: he was found about 25 metres away from where he was attacked.

Corporal Zal-Azri had been a cop for 7 years. His wife, children, mother and brother are grief-stricken. His colleagues in the police force are grieving – and mindful that it could have been them.

In all our anger over the quality of policing in Malaysia and the sheer arrogance and stupidity ofUmnoputra who rule over the force, let us not forget the need for an effective police force. Let us not forget the risks and difficulties inherent to policing. Let us not forget men like Zal-Azri who take up the challenge to the extent of dying in the line of duty.

It is not easy to be a cop. The temptations are many – not just to receive bribes, but also to exercise power through dishing out beatings and bullets. There are a lot of not nice people out there, and they’re not only in the police force.

Today, before I became aware of the sacrifice of Zal-Azri, I was struck by this passage in Daniel Goleman’s masterful book, Working with Emotional Intelligence:

“It’s a classic Manhattan street scene: A man stops his Lexus in a No Stopping zone on a busy street, hurries into a shop, makes a few purchases, and rushes out – only to find a traffic cop has not only written out a ticket, but also called a tow truck, to which his Lexus is now being hitched.

‘Goddam!’ the man explodes in rage, screaming at the traffic cop. ‘You are the lowest form of human slime!” he yells, pounding the hood of the tow truck with his fist.

The cop, visibly ruffled, somehow manages a calm response: ‘It’s the law. If you think it’s wrong, you can appeal.’ And with that, he turns and walks away.”

Goleman continues:

“. . . these situations make many [police] officers struggle to handle their visceral response to disrespect, an attitude they see not just as an idle threat, but as signalling a shift in power in the interaction, which could pose a danger to their life. As Wilson puts it, “Initially, when someone gives you major grief, your body wants to react. But there is this little person inside your head saying, ‘It’s not worth it. I put my hands on this person, I lose.’””

I don’t know if, on balance, Corporal Zal-Azri was a good cop.

I know that he had a difficult job.

I know he tried to apprehend a suspect.

I know he paid for it with his life.

I know Corporal Zal-Azri and many others like him do similar things every day.

I know that if not for their actions, things will be much worse in our nation – especially because I know who rules over them.

I am grateful for Corporal Zal-Azri and others like him. Peace be with you, Corporal Zal-Azri.