Media Statement (2)
by Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, 21st October 2008:
Hamid should do his homework by first
reading and digesting the 2005 Royal Police Commission Report or he
would not have dismissed complaints from Taiwanese investors and claim
that the crime situation has not reached "red danger alert"
I am very disappointed by the Home Minister,
Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar's response to complaints by Taiwanese
investors about the serious crime situation in the country which affects
investment confidence.
In fact, this is not just the concern of Taiwanese investors but all
foreign and local investors as well as ordinary Malaysians and visitors,
as crime in Malaysia has become one of the biggest problems in Malaysia
– with the exception of the Home Minister.
In fact, the problem of rising crime index has been a staple subject of
DAP MPs in Parliament in the last two Parliaments.
I just cannot imagine how Hamid could be so unresponsive and
irresponsible as to dismiss the Taiwanese investors' complaints about
the crime situation in Malaysia, claiming that the law-and-order
situation in Malaysia has not reached a "red danger alert".
Let me advise Hamid to do his homework by first reading and digesting
the 2005 Royal Police Commission Report, or he would not have committed
another faux pax like his earlier ridiculous statement that the Sin Chew
senior reporter Tan Hoon Ching was arrested under the Internal Security
Act for her own protection and safety!
When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister in October
2003, the crime situation was already out of control which was why one
of his first reform promises and measures which won him all-round
plaudits and support among Malaysians was the establishment of the Royal
Police Commission to reduce crime to restore to Malaysians their twin
fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime, whether
in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes.
The Royal Police Commission in its May 2005 Report had referred to the
"alarming" and "dramatic increase" in the crime index from 121,176 cases
in 1997 to 156,455 cases in 2004, an increase of 29 per cent in eight
years, and recommended a reduction by 20% in the crime index in the
first 12 months.
In actual fact, the reverse took place. In the past four years, the
crime index had worsened from 156,315 cases in 2003 to 224,298 cases in
2007 – a sharp rise of some 45% when it should have gone down as
recommended by the Royal Police Commission which proposed a 20% drop in
the crime index in the first 12 months of its report.
For the first time in the nation's 50-year history, the crime index last
year crashed through the 200,000 psychological barrier. Women in
Malaysia are now more unsafe today than four years ago – as the
incidence of rape had more than doubled from a daily average of four
women in 2003 to 8.5 women last year!
Has Hamid forgotten the Barisan Nasional's 2008 general election
manifesto where it promised: "Bring down the country's crime index".
What has Hamid as Home Minister done in the past seven months to fulfil
the BN 2008 manifesto to "Improve the level of personal safety for every
individual"?
Hamid has nothing to show as Malaysia today is even more unsafe to its
citizens, visitors, tourists and investors because of endemic crime as
compared to the start of the Abdullah premiership in 2003 or even just
March this year.
Has Hamid forgotten the spate of crime in the country like the
robbery-cum-murder of Thor Joo Lee, wife of former Penang State
Assemblyman for Bukit Tambun, Lai Chew Hock at her Tambun Indah house in
Penang and the robbery of
Datin Chang Lee Lee, wife of former Penang Exco and Pulau Tikus
Assemblyman Datuk Dr. Teng Hock Nan in her Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman
house in Penang among other outrages?
Malaysians are paying a terrible cost in terms of the personal safety of
its citizens, tourists and investors and the nation's investment climate
because of the unchecked rising crime index and lack of leadership and
commitment to declare an all-out-war against crime whether by the Home
Minister or the Inspector-General of Police.
In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that crime in Malaysia has become
so endemic as to scare away tourists and investors precisely because the
most important recommendation of the Police Royal Commission to
establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC)
to create an efficient, professional and world-class police service to
keep crime low in the country had not been implemented or heeded.
Is Hamid prepared to support the establishment of a full-fledged IPCMC
and not a tooth-less and clawless Special Complaints Commission (SCC)
which is a mockery of the Royal Police Commission's IPCMC proposal, as
there will be police representatives on the SCC!
*
Lim
Kit Siang, DAP
Parliamentary leader & MP for Ipoh Timor
http://dapmalaysia.org