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One would ask whether are we still safe to walk in the street at night when even a high ranking police officer in PJ has publicly said that he no longer go for jogging alone to prevent being a victim of robbery   Opending Speech - forum “The Lesson from Canny Ong case – Reduce Crime and the Fear of Crime” by Fong Kui Lun (Petaling Jaya, Saturday): Chairperson for the forum, DAP National Chairman, Sdr Lim Kit Siang, HAKAM President, Sdr Ramdas Tikamdas, Executive Director of Women’s Development Collective, Sdri Maria Chin Abdullah, MP for Bukit Mertajam, Sdri Chong Eng, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, a very good evening to all of you.  We had also invited the Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Norian Mai to address the forum tonight but unfortunately he did not turn up.   I’m sure all of you here tonight are aware about the incident which is our subject of discussion tonight. About one month ago, on the night of 13th June, a young lady by the name of Canny Ong was abducted from Bangsar Shopping Complex and we all know what happened to her subsequently. It was brutal and downright inhumane.   It was not just her family who felt sad and angry with what had happened, I’m sure all peace-loving Malaysians felt outrageous with it. Canny Ong’s case was particularly high profile due to the intense media coverage. But we must not forget that this is not an isolated case but almost everyday, we heard and read in the newspapers about rape cases, gang rape, murder, day light robbery and all sought of crime.   Last year alone police recorded 1,431 rape cases, and 975 of the victims were Malays, 240 Chinese, 103 Sabahans, 90 Indians, 79 illegal immigrants and 44 Sarawakians. This are scary statistics as it meant that there are average 4 rape cases reported everyday in the country. Even worse, this might not be the real picture of the situation as it is generally agreed by many quarters that for every reported rape case, nine went unreported.   Domestic security issue has become a concern for everyone. One would ask whether are we still safe to walk in the street at night when even a high ranking police officer in PJ has publicly said that he no longer go for jogging alone to prevent being a victim of robbery.   These concerns were not addressed by the police when there are so many inconsistencies and confusions as far as the police to population ratio are concern. Are we having enough police personnel to ensure safety for our citizens and to effectively fight the rising rate of crimes especially sex crimes in the country? For instance in Subang Jaya, the police to population ratio is 1:10,870. You can just imagine how effective it is!   We must not let Canny Ong and other rape-murder victims to die in vain. The case should serve as important lesson to all of us and the police must take concrete actions to reduce crime and the fear of crime in Malaysia.   Malaysians must do away with the syndrome of “five minute outrage” as like other past tragedies and crisis, Malaysians tends to have a very short memory. Lets all of us to play a role together to at least ensure our own and family’s safety and help the society to fight crime. I wish all of you to have a fruitful discussion. Thank you. (12/7/2003) *  Fong Kui Lun,  DAP Selangor Chairman and MP for Bukit Bintang