"The police are not here to create disorder; they're here to preserve disorder."
- Richard J Daley
Well, of course, the police are going to deny any links with pro-government troll farms. Police secretary Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said the police viewed the allegations by Meta seriously, and of course, they were going to gather more information.
Of course, anyone shocked that Meta is a breeding ground for troll farms and that Meta is serious about curbing the spread of disinformation should get their heads checked.
In 2016, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, in an interview with Sinar Harian, said this about the government at the time.
“(Bagaimanapun) jangan memandang rendah kepada kerajaan kerana mereka ada kuasa, ada televisyen, radio, duit dan media. Mereka juga ada alat-alat risikan dan sebagainya. Media dia lebih tahu pada kita. Dia tahu kita belum tahu lagi. Sama ada dengan kekuasaan itu, parti yang berkuasa akan kalah saya tidak tahu.” (Whatever happens, don't look down on the government as they have power, television, radio, money and the media. They also have the intelligence apparatus. They know more than us. They know we don't know. With all that power, I have no idea if the ruling party will lose).
Abdul Hamid Bador, in retelling his appointment as Special Branch head by the old maverick, when the old maverick returned to power, said: “He faced many problems because he did not know ‘who was a friend and who was a foe’ and that may jeopardise any plan to establish the dynamic government that he wanted”
Keep in mind that it was Abdul Hamid who made allegations against Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin regarding the “our boy” recording and, not to mention the cartel, which he claimed he had under control but in reality brought him down.
The state security apparatus deals with information. Or at least that is a small but most vital part of its operations. The state security apparatus is also unfortunately made up of fiefdoms controlled or in league with various political operatives of the government.
Your average government propagandist is going to receive information or speculation or fabrications from emissaries of the state security apparatus to control narratives or defame political operatives, either establishment or opposition, who get out of line.
Indeed Abdul Hamid said in 2019 that the Special Branch would not be used as a government tool: “Special Branch is not a tool to suppress critics and I will not let that happen.
“It is good that the new administration is allowing dissidents to speak up and allowing democracy to be practised.”
The underlying message is that, as Razaleigh admitted in 2016, the establishment was using the state security apparatus to maintain political hegemony and control the narrative.
So this idea that information gathered or fabricated is disseminated through troll farms is something which is not only believable but also the least of the police’s malfeasances. Abdul Hamid, for instance, attempted to curb the rampant corruption in the police force and publicly spoke about such issues frequently.
Forget about that traffic patrolman that kissed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s hand. The reality is that the police, especially the upper echelons, understand that they are there to sustain the political fortunes of political operatives, all in the pursuit of pecuniary benefit.
This is exactly what the “our boy” recording was all about. People should not forget there are many “our boys” all over the state security apparatus. The hilarious thing is that they normally work at cross purposes, except when everyone is worried that the whole house of cards may come crashing down.
Pakatan Harapan winning the general election was supposed to be the extinction-level event for the police, but as whistleblower retired Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer said of judges: “The talk among the judicial members was that they were appointed because of the influence of an ex-minister who they served earlier.
“I will reserve my right to speak further to a royal commission of inquiry (RCI). They all knew it was business as usual, and all the fear of tribunalisation had disappeared overnight, and now they are looking forward to top positions upon vacancy.
“To me, I see it as one movement from a kleptocracy regime to another and nothing more.”
While the average cop on the street is burdened by a large family and low pay have to be content with a small portion of the cut from their superiors – if he or she is on the take – high-ranking police officers and their proxies enjoy lifestyles and privileges that are part and parcel of the system created by the ‘ketuanan’ ideology.
This is why the police have been fighting tooth and nail against any kind of independent oversight. This is why the political apparatus has been aiding and abetting the police on this issue.
Take human trafficking, for instance. In nearly every report or investigation by credible professionals on the business of human trafficking worldwide, what has always been highlighted is the connective tissue between corrupt public officials - namely security operatives - working in collusion with human traffickers.
This, of course, goes beyond a few bad apples, and where there have been scandals on human trafficking, there has always been evidence of the collusion between the security apparatus of that particular country and traffickers who profit from human misery. Wang Kelian is a testament to this.
The opposition is asking where the budget for this type of propaganda machine is coming from. Why? This is Malaysia, and government spending is all over the place and with very little oversight.
What is important is what exactly the propaganda was about and how effective it was. In other words, what damage did this propaganda do?
The opposition should be asking Meta for more information, go through every single scrap of data and present their findings to the public. This way, we could discover who these proxies are and what kind of propaganda needs to be countered.
The only thing surprising about this toll farm link allegation is that the police, for some odd reason, didn’t do a good job of maintaining plausible deniability.
I guess with standards slipping in every branch of the government with corrupt and inept people elevated – I am talking about the bottom of the barrel – to positions of power, something like this was bound to happen.
Or maybe it is just that the police do not care that a certain demographic does not trust them anymore, or maybe they understand the political apparatus, either establishment or opposition, will never sanction their malfeasances.- Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT
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