YES, ANOTHER SHOOTING: Death gets cheaper by the day, 33rd victim is from Kedah

07 August 2013 
Written by Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's 33rd assassination bid in 4 months or the 10th in 11 days has occurred. A 26-year-old man was seriously injured after he was gunned down in Pondok Labu, Kedah at about 10pm Tuesday night.

Police have yet to release the details but it is believed the victim was inside his house when an unidentified assailant whipped out a gun and fired a shot.

The victim was rushed to the Hospital Kulim and is reported to be in a critical condition.

Out of control crime?

The latest contract-style hit is bound to further depress the Malaysian public. Suddenly citizens are faced with the fact that nothing can be done because Prime Minister Najib Razak's government may have left it too late. Crime may well be out of control in Malaysia.

Just two days ago, a rubber tapper died after he was shot while having a drink at a stall with friends.

Based on a tabulation obtained from the Star newspaper, the 40-year-old Amirul Tajo Nasir would have been the country's 32nd shooting victim since April 12.

Amirul died at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital in Kubang Kerian. Gunshot wounds were found on the chest, stomach and buttocks. According to Kelantan deputy police chief Mazlan Lazim, Amirul was with two friends when two men on a motorcycle stopped about two metres from the stall in Kampung Gong Mengkeleh, Pasir Putih at dawn on Monday.

The pillion rider then opened fire at the victim. Police believe Amirul was shot at least six times.

"We offer our prayers for the latest victim's recovery but we also hope the police, the Home Minister and Prime Minister Najib Razak himself will stop pointing fingers all round except at themselves," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

"For example, what is the use for Zahid to say the police are under-staffed and not to be blamed. Who is blaming the ordinary police personnel in the first place? What we all want are not excuses or the PM and the Home Minister pretending to be good guys and protecting the police. Who will protect the rakyat (the people) then? What we need is action, otherwise we should have the resignations of the IGP, Zahid and even Najib himself for failing to plan and manage the security of this country."

Indiscriminate and across the board killings

The Opposition politician was referring to a call from Home Minister Zahid Hamidi not to blame the police for the rising lack in public safety, while a minister in the Prime Minister's Office had hit out at critics, saying Najib should not be faulted for the spike in crime.

But as Jui Meng pointed out, who then is to blame. And more to the point, how can Malaysians regain control of their environment.

So far, the victims of the assassination bids are from all walks of life - from the richest segment of Malaysia's society to the poorest. None of the major ethic groups were spared.

In other words, the killings were indiscriminate and lends credence to talk that death was very cheap in Malaysia. Apparently, one can hire an assassin for just RM1,000 because the risk of the Malaysia police tracing and capturing the assassin was deemed low.

Assassins come cheap because the police are viewed as incompetent?

This is indeed a sad reflection on the competency of the police force, whose staffing has been slanted with priority given to non-crime fighting units.

A shocking number have also been detailed to carry out investigations against Opposition rivals and civil society activists.

For example, Cynthia Gabriel , a member of top NGO Suaram has been summoned to the Petaling Jaya police headquarters this afternoon to give her statement. She is being investigated for sedition because of a Suaram dinner held last month to raise funds for the trial in Paris where Najib's alleged involvement in the Scorpene submarines corruption case may be uncovered. The Scorpene link to the sensational Altantuya Shaariibuu murder here, in which Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor were accused of involvement, is also being scrutinized by the French investigative judges.

"Quality of policing has direct implications on crime rate. If the detection rate is high, potential criminals would refrain from committing crime for fear of being arrested and convicted. If they are confident they can act with impunity, be it poor policing or bribery, crime rate will skyrocket as we are experiencing now," Chang Lih Kang, another Opposition politician and the assemblyman for Teja, had said in a statement sent to Malaysia Chronicle.

"Hence, the Home Minister and the police force should pay heed in improving quality of policing rather than demanding another piece of legislation that allows detention without trial. Resorting to archaic law that violates fundamental rights of citizens in order to curb crime rate will only reflect incompetency of our police force."

Lack of independent check to ensure the police developed in line with society's needs

Attempts by civil society leaders and the Opposition to set up an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission have fallen on deaf years since 2006.

Some experts have opined the IPCMC, aimed at cleaning up the corruption-tainted police force and instilling greater discipline and diligent work culture, could have made a huge difference to Malaysia's sprawling and rather flabby police force. They believe the police force would be in much better shape than it currently is if the IPCMC had been implemented.

However, as underscored by the series of unstoppable assassinations, it is quite clear that Najib and his government have lost the battle against crime.

It is also moot whether the IPCMC's rejection stemmed from links between the top cops, politicians and the underworld or was foiled due to the ruling Umno party's wish to curry favor with police members so as to maintain its political control over the country.

What is inescapable now is that Najib and team are not able to formulate solutions despite the current dire situation.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has called for a concerted bi-partisan effort. Again, the suggestion has been snubbed by the Najib administration, which is now calling for a revival of draconian detention laws such as the Emergency Ordinance and the Internal Security Act.

EO, ISA only made the police lazy and flabby

But as critics have pointed out, whether new or revived, detention laws cannot curb the spike in violent crime and would only overflow the country's detention centres.

Critics also said Najib and his ministers must confront the fact that one of the core reasons for the inability of Malaysia's security forces to combat crime is the low quality of the policing work due to decades of being pampered by politicians wishing to manipulate the force for their vested political interests.

"Before it was repealed, EO was rampantly used by the executive to detain suspects whom they could not prove wrong in the court. It was at the whim and fancy of the executive to detain or release a suspect even if there were not a shred of evidence," said Lih Kang.

"This has led to utterly poor policing because the police do not need to justify their arrests with proof in the court of justice."

Including the above-reported 2 attacks, there are now a total of 33 shooting incidents since April 12, based on a tabulation by the Star newspaper:

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