Our IGP lashes out? He threatens tax payers and yes the government, that he can instruct his men at any time NOT to enforce the law? The reasons for him doing so are immature enough, the outpouring of public indignation against the shooting death of a 14 year old. That incident, and ones similar, will obviously give rise to people expressing concern and yes maybe even anger and disgust as is their right. But, the incident itself aside, the arrogance of the IGP to think that he decides if the Police should act as is their calling? A calling by the way that is their legal and statutory obligation to do so?
That statement of our IGP is both irresponsible and arrogant. He is obviously not concerned about his or the responsibilities of the force or even cognizant of them. For him to begin to even think that he and only he decides if law and order should be upheld in this country points to some serious flaws in his reasoning and his capacity to act as the IGP. The Home Ministers task here is clear. He should have him removed and replaced with one with a clear understanding that such a position is not one of supreme authority but one of supreme obligation.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
To reach out and help someone, do we or don’t we…
To reach out and help someone, do we or don’t we… I was faced with this exact question this past Sunday and was struck with my initial response.
I was driving home along a side road when a little old lady (of Chinese ethnicity if you must know) came running into view waving her arms furiously. And my first instinctive response was? Not to stop. To ask myself what scam was this and what was she up too? I was shocked at myself and buried that skepticism, pulled over and asked her what the problem was. It turned out her brakes had seized. On a brand new Honda Civic. Delivered to her just the day before. She had gone to the shops and on the drive back her car had come to a stop and had refused to budge. She had thought her engine was at fault but when I checked and drove the car a short distance (she was blocking someone’s driveway) I knew instantly what the problem was. I parked her car safely, offered to give her a lift home and advised her to call the dealer as the car had to be towed. She accepted my offer of the lift and on the way to her place, told me that she had been standing there for over an hour trying to get someone to stop and help her. And no one had.
When I had dropped her off I retraced the entire event over in my mind and questioned my initial reticence. I asked myself, why had I been apprehensive to the point of possibly not helping? And why after more than an hour of seeking help, had no one else stepped forward? To step forward and help a little old lady. The obvious answer, we live in a fear filled society. Our papers are filled with reports of snatch theft victims, road side scams, muggings and extortions. Petty crime has spiraled to such a point we have ceased to be civil as we move about in fear in our little cocoons. In so doing, we avoid and ignore our fellow man.
Over the past days though I have come across some interesting newspaper reports. One was of a student who fell to his death while trying to leave an apartment that was being raided under a joint exercise by Jais and the police. A raid that they were supposedly conducting under a tip-off…..
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/25/nation/6127992&sec=nation
Another report covered another joint raid on muslims at bars and clubs at some mall in Selangor http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/4/26/central/6130127&sec=central
Juxtapose this against the rising crime, the cloud of fear we are all living under and you can’t help but wonder if our resources are being misappropriated, our focus myopic. And in so doing not addressing what should be the core priority of our internal security forces. To combat real crime, to elevate this cloud of fear we live under such that, among other things, we can start functioning as a real society again. To be what we claim to be, a sociable people ever ready to help one another.
In the interim, until we see this happen, we shouldn’t be using the above as a reason, nay an excuse to not help. To not be a part of the human race. Selflessness as opposed to selfishness. It’s the least we can do I think…
I was driving home along a side road when a little old lady (of Chinese ethnicity if you must know) came running into view waving her arms furiously. And my first instinctive response was? Not to stop. To ask myself what scam was this and what was she up too? I was shocked at myself and buried that skepticism, pulled over and asked her what the problem was. It turned out her brakes had seized. On a brand new Honda Civic. Delivered to her just the day before. She had gone to the shops and on the drive back her car had come to a stop and had refused to budge. She had thought her engine was at fault but when I checked and drove the car a short distance (she was blocking someone’s driveway) I knew instantly what the problem was. I parked her car safely, offered to give her a lift home and advised her to call the dealer as the car had to be towed. She accepted my offer of the lift and on the way to her place, told me that she had been standing there for over an hour trying to get someone to stop and help her. And no one had.
When I had dropped her off I retraced the entire event over in my mind and questioned my initial reticence. I asked myself, why had I been apprehensive to the point of possibly not helping? And why after more than an hour of seeking help, had no one else stepped forward? To step forward and help a little old lady. The obvious answer, we live in a fear filled society. Our papers are filled with reports of snatch theft victims, road side scams, muggings and extortions. Petty crime has spiraled to such a point we have ceased to be civil as we move about in fear in our little cocoons. In so doing, we avoid and ignore our fellow man.
Over the past days though I have come across some interesting newspaper reports. One was of a student who fell to his death while trying to leave an apartment that was being raided under a joint exercise by Jais and the police. A raid that they were supposedly conducting under a tip-off…..
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/25/nation/6127992&sec=nation
Another report covered another joint raid on muslims at bars and clubs at some mall in Selangor http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/4/26/central/6130127&sec=central
Juxtapose this against the rising crime, the cloud of fear we are all living under and you can’t help but wonder if our resources are being misappropriated, our focus myopic. And in so doing not addressing what should be the core priority of our internal security forces. To combat real crime, to elevate this cloud of fear we live under such that, among other things, we can start functioning as a real society again. To be what we claim to be, a sociable people ever ready to help one another.
In the interim, until we see this happen, we shouldn’t be using the above as a reason, nay an excuse to not help. To not be a part of the human race. Selflessness as opposed to selfishness. It’s the least we can do I think…
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