Thesun 2009-01-09 Page16 Duty To Serve And Protect

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speak up!

theSun

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| FRIDAY JANUARY 9 2009

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Duty to serve and protect THE finding of the Huexplain the authorities’ man Rights Commissedate demeanour sion of Malaysia (Suduring street protests hakam) on Wednesday and demonstrations that police and Federal by members of or afReserve Unit (FRU) had filiated to the ruling used excessive force in coalition. handling the protest of a This is because road closure in Bandar the public will draw Mahkota Cheras unDown2Earth a stark contrast to the derscores the general by Terence Fernandez conduct of personnel public perception of during demonstrations our law enforcement by non-card carrying authorities. members of particular organisaNow, it would be unfair to tions or political parties. lump all uniformed personnel in If indeed the enforcement this category of baton lovers and agencies are biased, they should the trigger happy, but the conrealise that their actions are doduct of some lawmen does not ing no favours to their perceived do justice to an agency whose political masters – what more primary purpose is to serve and with a by-election around the protect. corner, where the presence of Over the past year, newspathe men in blue and their counpers and the Net have been interparts in green would be very undated with images of bloodied visible. and roughed up members of the How the government and the public – including politicians police react to the Suhakam refrom the opposition alliance and port will be important in gauging NGOs – purportedly inflicted by the authorities’ attitude towards the batons, fists or boots of one public perception and the wellofficer or another. being of the rakyat. These officers may think that Suhakam after all is regarded such actions are condoned by as a toothless tiger, whose antheir superiors but I seriously nual report is not even tabled doubt that firing into a crowd in Parliament. If its findings are as in the case of the Batu Buruk not acted upon, it merely justiriots in 2006 would apply as fies its critics’ assertion that the reasonable force. commission is a mere cosmetic While the inspector-general of exercise to facilitate favourable police and home minister have a rankings in the global human duty to protect their officers and rights index. the agencies concerned, at the Case in point: Suhakam’s same time, they are also con2007 report which held that scious of the fact that the people’s excessive force was used on well-being is paramount. price hike demonstrators outside Thus, when their men act KLCC in 2006 remains just that out of line – as in the case of the – a report. There was no action Bandar Mahkota Cheras incident by those concerned and the where two men were assaulted – same allegations – supported by they are saddled with yet another photographic evidence continue public relations nightmare. With to dog the authorities. a critical and discerning public, So, at the end of the day, they would be hard-pressed to the ball is in the court of the

enforcement agencies. Due to their overwhelming numbers, power and influence, any reform or attempt to repair their image will depend on their willingness to wake up to the fact that they need a serious makeover, as well as political will and courage by those in charge of overseeing their powers. The fact that the prime minister’s attempts to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) faced strong opposition strengthens the general view that enforcement agencies are a law unto themselves. If this is true, even efforts to battle graft within the agency will be an uphill task.

Porn industry seeks bailout pg 20

While our police force may be cepat and betul, Terence hopes they will also be a little more mesra when dealing with peaceful assemblies. He is deputy editor (special reports & investigations) and can be reached at terence@ thesundaily.com.

Let’s have it clean and fair WHILE the events at Gaza Strip have got all of us awakened and seething with anger, it could also be deemed a distraction to what the Malaysians have got their antennas fixed on – the Kuala Terengganu by-election. By no means is this just another election to fill a vacancy in the Dewan Rakyat. It’s much more than that. The stakes are much higher for both the contenders. Hence, it is not surprising that the ante has been upped and has drawn big guns from both sides of the divide in the campaigning. As it happens when campaigning becomes intense, the methodology used in garnering votes knows no bounds. Therefore, it is inevitable for candidates and their campaigners to throw caution to the wind and use all possible ways to win the hearts and minds of the people. This is where the danger lies. When rules of fairness are discarded, there is bound to be conflict. When one side hits below the belt, the other tends to respond. When one side bends

Give commuters a say I WAS happy to read “Open discussion on Klang Central terminal” (Dec 8) where it was reported that the Selangor Mentri Besar had initiated an open discussion among all stakeholders on the issues surrounding the relocation of bus services to the Klang terminal. The stakeholders invited to attend the meeting, include bus and taxi operators, traders, the terminal concessionaire, and the wakil rakyat. I do not see any representatives of commuters. If this is the case, the commuter can add another disappointment to an already long list. The commuters are the most important stakeholders in public transport. It is

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our use of the service and the ringgit that we pay that makes the difference between the success and failure of bus and taxi operators and terminal projects. And yet, it seems that the other stakeholders continue to forget the importance of the commuters whenever they make plans or try to resolve issues. The Association for the Improvement of Mass-Transit, Klang Valley, is working to present a united voice for commuters.

the rule, the other makes an attempt to break them. That is why we all the more need some sense and semblance of decency. All parties must remember that at all times that they should not resort to name-calling; personal attacks and abstain from using race and religion for politics. While it is understandable (because of at least one religionbased party) that never has there been a thick line between politics and religion, extra caution needs to be exercised in this instance. While some statements can be dismissed by certain quarters as political rhetoric, there is still a large majority which can differentiate between political propaganda and public policy. It is hoped that all parties involved will uphold the principle of fairness and make attempts to contain themselves during the campaigning period. Let it be a clean election fought on issues and policies without touching on sensitive issues which would cause unnecessary tension and fear among the public.

Our group members have a plan for public transport improvements in the Klang Valley. We have shared that plan with the other stakeholders (those whom we could contact) because we believe in the free flow of information and ideas. Sadly, our contributions, concerns and ideas are dismissed again and again by the other stakeholders who are claiming to act in the public interest. I appreciate the efforts of the mentri besar to resolve this issue but I must humbly say that this issue will never be resolved unless the commuters become stakeholders, valued equally with the bus operators and the government. Moaz Yusuf Ahmad Subang Jaya