SORRY FOR THE MESS, MALAYSIA

Dear Di,

Good afternoon to you.

To borrow NST headline today, politicians in Malaysia should say “sorry for the country’s mess”.

Thanks to their stupidity and instiable hunger for popular votes, politicians from both divide zeroed onto the removal of “draconian laws” that had since Independence helped checked the threats from criminals and kept the country relatively safe.

Both mainstream and social media hailed the removal of these laws as timely and described the move as historic. Leaders earned praises from civil rights groups who saw such a move helped placed the nation closer to that other developed countries in terms of respecting human rights.

Unfortunately, of late both the mainstream and social media are screaming at the Government to reinstate the draconian laws as criminals, some quoted as saying, numbering more than 200,000 are running havoc.

Rare shooting cases in the past have now become almost a daily occurrence. Prominent businessman, a civil servant, a social activist and individuals (some had criminal records) were gunned down.

The armed assailants who might be had been detained or had their movement restricted under the draconian laws were released unconditionally. They now move freely.

Rightly or wrongly the public now fears for their safety. Most fear that the may become accidental victims, hit by stray bullets. Thus, many opted not to go out and have late supper with friends and chose to stay in door at night. Even the Minister of Tourism sounded warning that the situation if left unchecked would drive away tourists. This not a good news as 2014 is the Visit Malaysia Year.

Although there are growing calls from many quarters for some form of preventive laws be introduced soon, some politicians opposed bringing back such laws. Instead, they choose to put the blame on the inefficiency of the police.

They argued that the police has to improve their service and use better crime fighting equipment.

But any law enforcement officials know that that alone is not enough. The country need some form of preventive laws to curb crime since not all crime can be proven beyond reasonable doubts.

Therefore, it come as no surprise that there are countries, including that of the United States, had introduced tough preventive laws that allowed detention without trail.

It is also rumoured that the same country sanctioned the “elimination” of suspects that could be a serious threat to the country, including their own countrymen.

There is no way the police can be everywhere all the time. We need preventive laws to put fear among the criminals. It is better to deny certain rights for a few bad hats than placing the whole population under siege of fear.