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Call on IGP Bakri Musa to pay
a personal visit to Lawan Kuda new village which was issued 600
motor-cyclist summons in two years – living proof of Royal Police Commission
finding that public confidence in police “very low” and example how the
police “Mesra Rakyat” slogan has turned sour Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh, Tuesday): Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar should pay a personal visit to Lawan Kuda new village in Gopeng, Perak, as motorcyclists of the village with 8,000 people have been issued 600 notices for traffic offences (saman ekor) over the past two years. The majority of the saman ekor were for failure to wear crash helmets and for having faded number plates, with speeding making up 10% of the offences. Human Rights of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramaniam had expressed shock at the police torrent and “tyranny” of saman ekor when he visited Lawan Kuda New Village with DAP MP for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan and three DAP Perak Assemblymen, i.e. Thomas Su Keong Siong (Pasir Pinji), Keong Meng Sing (Menglembu) and Chen Fook Chye (Keranji) on Tuesday and received an official complaint to Suhakam from the villagers. Siva Subramaniam told reporters that he found it “a bit weird” for the police to issue 600 summonses in one village alone, which “has never happened in any one place in Malaysia before”. The Lawan Kuda New Village saman ekor scandal is highly unfair and oppressive for the low-income group who could only afford motor-cycles as their means of transport, as on an average of RM50 fine per saman ekor, the police are squeezing the Lawan Kuda new villagers to pay out some RM30,000 for the past two years! The Lawan Kuda saman ekor scandal is in fact a living proof of the failure of the police “Mesra Rakyat” (People Friendly) slogan, which has turned completely sour for the people of Lawan Kuda, and the reason for the Royal Police Commission finding that public confidence in police “very low”. The Royal Police Commission Report, in p.179, states: “As noted in earlier chapters, public confidence in PDRM is very low. The qualities many in the public and business see in PDRM are the antithesis of all that PDRM aspires to be. PDRM is generally viewed as inefficient, uncaring, unable to prevent or check crime and corruption to a significant degree. Concerns regarding infringements and abuse of human rights are extensive, and PDRM is not seen as being transparent and accountable to the public.” The Inspector-General of Police should visit Lawan Kuda new village to end the police torrent and “tyranny” of saman ekor and to bring to a close a living proof of the Royal Police Commission finding that public confidence in police is “very low” and to reinvent the police service to give real meaning to the police “Mesra Rakyat” (People-Friendly) slogan – where the police are regarded as friends and not bullies or oppressors by the people. (19/05/2005)
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