Human Exploitation Part 2

Malaysia claims to be a civilised and very progressive nation, though, in truth, it is being led by self-serving and morally corrupt and incompetent political leaders. The BN, especially the UMNO and MCA leaders are highly conspiratorial, spineless and shady in nature. This is the reason why the country is now in the grip of an unrelenting crime wave alongside the always unending spiral of street confrontations arising from racial and religious discord. Below is an exact reproduction of a piece of news that is so typical of Malaysian everyday life. PETALING JAYA: Marilou C. Pingol has been targeted by robbers thrice in the past five months, leaving her traumatised and terrified. Her latest encounter was with a group of 15 Mat Rempit in Kelana Jaya on Tuesday morning. Not content with hitting her twice on the head with a metal pipe, causing her to almost lose consciousness, her heartless attackers then held on to her hands and dragged her about 2m along the rough road. The 38-year-old Filipino, a market researcher who commutes daily on the LRT to her workplace in Kuala Lumpur, recalled the horrible incident while recuperating at her aunt's home in Jalan SS5C, Kelana Jaya, yesterday. "I was walking to the nearby Kelana Jaya LRT station at around 6am on Tuesday with my cousin when a group of 15 people on 10 motorcycles suddenly pulled up in front of us near SS4C and demanded that I hand over my handbag. Five of them pulled my cousin a short distance away and threatened him with three parangs, while the remaining Mat Rempit circled me," said Marilou, who has lived and worked in Malaysia for 10 years. She pleaded with the Mat Rempit not to harm them and said they could take her handbag but asked to be allowed to keep her passport. They agreed but as she was searching her handbag, one of them hit her twice on the head with a metal pipe, leaving her dizzy and semi-conscious. She added that her attackers then rode off but stopped five metres away and turned back. "Two pillion riders grabbed my hands and dragged me on the road for about two metres, shredding my pants around the knees and buttocks," she said. Her cousin, Ronald Rocutar, 38, could only watch helplessly in horror as she screamed in pain. Unable to get transport to rush her to hospital, Ronald called his nephew and they carried the bloodied Marilou to the nearby Kelana Jaya police station to lodge a report before taking her to a nearby dental clinic where her aunt works as a nurse to dress the wounds. "I am now terrified to walk to the LRT station, even though the road is lit and with another person accompanying me. The criminals are becoming more daring and heartless," said Marilou, who has deep abrasions on her knees and can't walk for the time being. She added that in November last year, her handbag was almost snatched right in front of her house and, on Dec 31, she was forced to hand over her handbag at knife-point. -

The Star Thurs 12 March 2009 pN25

Malaysian leaders often boast about how advanced and progressive the country is, how the nation could even offer employment to foreign nationals and the rising number of professionals and 'inventions' and patents the country has registered. But what they don't tell is the stark realisation that the country's youths have embraced crime as a career path and foreigners have taken over jobs that could have been filled by Malaysians. The hours of between 11pm to 3am are the most dangerous in many housing estates due to the fact that petrol is so cheap here that criminals can afford to roam about in cars and motorcycles looking for victims. The police personnel at the police stations usually are locked in some kind of stupor and could not even fetch the victim(s) to a hospital. From my own experience, even just printing out the report was quite like a herculean task to them. The recent move by the government to give a RM5000 discount to people who are buying new Proton cars is regarded as something very unwise and immature. The money could be better used to improve public transport or if the public transport system in the country needs no improvement (?), the money should be used to pay for anti-theft alarms that incorporate GPS technology, not as direct cash discounts for car buyers. The more new cars being put on the road the more cases of carjackings we will have and the more criminals who will be roaming around looking for more victims. The robbers and muggers in Malaysia have never had it so good. It is common knowledge that many motorcycle gang members in the country are from policemen's families or their relatives and that could explain why the menace has so far defied all solution. It is also symptomatic of the way the country has so unwisely built the police force ( and other enforcement agencies) along racial lines. Malaysia a model for developing countries as so often stated ? I think not.