Bringing back peace and confidence

ALL Malaysians will warmly welcome Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s call to “bring back peace and confidence” to our beloved country.

The public will also greatly appreciate that the Prime Minister has openly acknowledged that most Malaysians and foreigners have been steadily losing confidence in the national will and capacity to effectively tackle crime, especially gun-related crimes of murder and robbery.

Now we will want to know how long it will take before their confidence and peace can be restored?

Will the Government, the police and civil society really move fast forward or will complacency seep into the system, soon after the terrible killings of my dear friend, Hussain Najadi and others, have passed?

If we delay tough action against serious crime and crime in general, the public will lose even more peace and confidence.

Worse still, we will lose faith in our system and hope in our future

The Government should introduce tough laws and ensure there are no loopholes for criminals to escape.

prospects and aspirations for developed country status by 2020, just seven years away.

How then can we bring back peace and confidence as soon as possible?

Firstly, the high powered task force appointed under the chairmanship of Datuk Seri Idris Jala to draft new laws for the next Parliament sitting in September, has to consult all sectors of society, especially the police, who are unfortunately sometimes not adequately consulted.

The task force could have laboratories like the many successful ones held by Pemandu before, to ascertain the views of all stakeholders, before finalising the new policies and laws. After all we are all deeply interested in peace and stability.

The Government should be bold in introducing tough laws that can really be effective and ensure there are no loopholes for criminals to escape the rule of law.

There should be a critical balance between providing the basic need for safety and security, with the legitimate public concerns, to prevent human rights abuses.

But priority should be given to addressing “Freedom from Fear”, for the 28 million Malaysians, in preference over the 2,000 hardcore criminals released after the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance.

The police and related enforcement agencies should be provided with adequate financial and material resources.

I am disappointed when I hear stories of the lack of legal and financial support for the police and other agencies, to fight crime, especially big time crime mobsters and syndicated crime.

There are stories of police cars that cannot operate for lack of petrol and spare parts. The police are also unable to use their guns when they run short of funds for ammunition.

There is an urgent need to increase the manpower of the police force and related agencies.

The new Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has revealed that the police force is grossly understaffed. Why is this so? Why this long neglect? No wonder we are having a rising serious crime rate?

The police to citizen ratio in Malaysia is 1:700 as compared to 1:35 in New York. It may be difficult to compare the whole of Malaysia to New York City, but the lack of adequate police manpower resources shows up.

True, we can ask for some reorganisation of police manpower, but this would be a short-term measure.

We need structural improvements for a worsening crime situation and not tinkering with the system.

Finally, we need a much stronger police-public partnership (PPP). There is no point in being unduly critical of the police. We have to regard the police more as our protectors and not indulge in police bashing!

No doubt there have been several cases of police abuse, but where is there no abuse at all in every aspect of ours or any other society. We have to seek to wipe out abuses.

The challenge is for us all to work closely with the Government, the opposition, civil society and the general public as united Malaysians to protect ourselves and our nation from all kinds of crime, especially the serious crime.

Let’s go all out, to support the Prime Minister’s call for new effective laws and to give the police tougher laws, better and more financial and manpower resources and certainly more goodwill and genuine partnership and cooperation.

Then we will be able to “bring back peace and confidence!” TAN SRI RAMON NAVARATNAM Petaling Jaya