Adjournment Speech on Crime in PJ - Ministerial Response

I blogged on my adjournment speech on crime in Petaling Jaya earlier, and I have received the verbal reply by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Dato' Chor Chee Heung on the issue.

By and large, I was disappointed with the Deputy Minister's reply on 2 aspects.

Firstly, with 1-2 exceptions, the Deputy Minister didn't give specific answers, especially with regards to Petaling Jaya but instead just gave very generic answers such as "the government will increase police staff", without mentioning how many are planned for Petaling Jaya. Without such information, we can never tell if the government's plans will or will not be sufficient.

Secondly, the Ministry appears to continue the emphasis that part of the blame for the high crime rates has to fall on the victims themselves for being careless, and the solution to that is to have more seminars. In addition, the Ministry and the police kept also harping on the fact that they need public co-operation to reduce and resolve crime. While I'll agree that yes, co-operation is necessary, it's not the most important of factors which is causing the high crime rates. There is little or no mention on how the police force can be made more efficient or more effective in fighting and preventing crime.

Anyway, read his reply copied here as a whole and judge for yourself his response.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Ahli Yang Berhormat Petaling Jaya Utara adalah membangkitkan isu-isu mengenai situasi jenayah yang semakin berleluasa di negara ini termasuk di Petaling Jaya dan langkah-langkah bagi menangani.

Sebagai maklumat Ahli Yang Berhormat, indeks jenayah bagi Petaling Jaya untuk tahun 2007 adalah sebanyak 10,357 kes ataupun 17.67% daripada jumlah indeks jenayah bagi negeri Selangor. Dari jumlah tersebut, 2,241 kes melibatkan jenayah kekerasan dan 8,116 kes adalah merupakan jenayah harta benda.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, jumlah keanggotaan anggota polis Ibu Pejabat Daerah Petaling Jaya pada 31 Mei 2008 adalah seramai 1,338 anggota daripada 10,246 anggota di seluruh Kontinjen Selangor. Nisbah anggota polis dengan penduduk bagi daerah Petaling Jaya bagi tahun 2007 adalah nisbahnya setiap seorang anggota polis untuk 1,300 orang penduduk dan sehingga Mei 2008 adalah setiap seorang anggota dan penduduknya ialah 1,279.

Polis Diraja Malaysia sedang berusaha untuk menambah perjawatan keanggotaan polis di seluruh negara terutamanya yang melibatkan perkhidmatan kepada masyarakat.

Cadangan penambahan perjawatan di semua balai polis seluruh negara telah dikemukakan kepada agensi pusat dan akan dipertimbangkan mengikut keutamaan. Bagi Kontinjen Selangor terdapat 55 buah balai polis dinaiktarafkan dan penambahan perjawatan anggota polis dilaksanakan bagi mengurangkan beban tugas pegawai dan anggota.

Ini secara tidak langsungnya dapat mengurangkan nisbah antara penduduk dan polis negeri Selangor.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Polis Diraja Malaysia juga sentiasa berusaha menyelesaikan kes-kes jenayah. Walau bagaimanapun penglibatan dan komitmen daripada masyarakat juga perlu bagi membantu pihak polis dalam mencegah jenayah daripada berlaku.

Berdasarkan kajian, pihak polis mendapati bahawa terdapatnya peluang yang membolehkan jenayah itu berlaku. Kelalaian dan kecuaian pemilik harta contohnya penyebab utama kepada jenayah harta benda. Sehubungan itu, kesedaran masyarakat perlu ditingkatkan lagi agar menyedari betapa kerjasama daripada mereka dapat membantu pihak polis dalam mencegah sesuatu jenayah.

Dalam mengurangkan kadar jenayah, Polis Diraja Malaysia mengambil beberapa langkah dengan meningkatkan lagi perondaan bit, MPV dan motosikal, mewujudkan balai ataupun pondok polis baru dengan sewaan bangunan, kedai ataupun perumahan di kawasan yang mempunyai kekerapan berlakunya kejadian jenayah. Maklumat melalui Rakan Cop dengan penghantaran sistem pesanan ringkas dan sistem pesanan multimedia dan menambah kehadiran polis di kawasan-kawasan yang berkenaan.

Polis Diraja Malaysia juga mengadakan kerjasama yang erat dengan Kerajaan Tempatan dan lain-lain agensi kerajaan seperti JKKK Daerah, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri dan Ahli Parlimen, mengadakan kempen-kempen ceramah dan pameran-pameran berkaitan senario jenayah, menggunakan sistem kamera litar tertutup CCTV di kawasan tertentu, mengadakan kerjasama dengan NGO dan juga Malaysian Grant Prevention Foundation dan juga mengenakan tindakan undang-undang termasuk Undang-undang Pencegahan terhadap penjenayahpenjenayah.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, pembukaan 60 balai polis dan 55 pondok polis komuniti baru bagi kontinjen Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor dan Pulau Pinang adalah merupakan strategi pendekatan oleh Polis Diraja Malaysia dalam usaha membanteras jenayah dan mengawal
keselamatan penduduk bandar. Dengan kewujudan balai polis dan pondok polis komuniti ini, dapat menempatkan anggota-anggota polis di kalangan masyarakat dan dengan secara tidak langsung, kehadiran polis dapat menghalang kegiatan penjenayah dan meningkatkan lagi keyakinan masyarakat.

Selain daripada itu, kewujudan balai polis dan pondok polis komuniti ini juga dapat mendekatkan masyarakat dengan pihak polis serta memudahkan masyarakat mendapat perkhidmatan polis. Masyarakat boleh turut membantu pihak polis dalam menyalurkan maklumat. Melalui kewujudan balai polis dan pondok polis komuniti ini, pihak polis dapat bertindak dengan pantas dalam menangani sesuatu isu. Polis Diraja Malaysia juga merangka Pelaksanaan Command Control Communication and Computer Integration System di bilik-bilik gerakan setiap kontinjen di seluruh Malaysia agar bantuan dapat disalurkan dengan lebih cepat dan sistematik. Dengan adanya sistem ini, respond time dapat dipendekkan dengan purata lapan minit bagi setiap laporan.

Sekian, terima kasih.

To be frank, I'm feeling a little helpless on how to help reduce crime, besides getting the residents to take the necessary measures to protect themselves. The government don't seem to have any specific directions in do so. I did speak to the Deputy Minister after that to request for specific numbers for PJ, and he said to write in again for the numbers.

So, what can we do next?

Adjournment Speech on Crime in PJ

I delivered my first adjournment speech on crime in Petaling Jaya 2 days ago in Parliament. It was focused on crime because that's probably the most pressing issue in my constituency, and in all likelihood, many others.

Basically, in this session of parliament, 2 MPs are given opportunities to present problems or issues to specific ministries for a reply by the Minister or his deputy. This is done at the end of each day, when the Dewan is nearly empty, but you'd need to book at least 7 days in advance, including submission of the speech text, subject to availability of time-slots. And it's limited to about 400 words

My speech is as follows:

Walaupun, saya hanya menjadi ahli parlimen selama 4 bulan, saya telah menerima banyak aduan mengenai kes-kes jenayah di kawasan PJU melalui emel, telefon dan pusat perkhidmatan saya.

Sebanyak empat puluh peratus semua aduan-aduan yang saya terima daripada penduduk Petaling Jaya Utara menglibatkan masalah-masalah jenayah, dan saya percaya, ahli-ahli lain di dewan di sini juga menghadapi masalah yang sama.

Kadang-kala saya berasa amat tidak berdaya kerana kuasa mengatasi masalah ini bukan berada di tangan saya.

Bilangan tinggi kes jenayah di Petaling Jaya adalah antara yang tertinggi di seluruh Malaysia. Di kawasan Petaling Jaya Utara sahaja, banyak kes yang dilaporkan setiap hari seperti pemandu-pemandu kereta dirompak semasa meletak kereta dan apabila berjalan-jalan. Adik saya dirampas ugut, isteri saya pun baru-baru dirompak di hadapan rumah!

Antara beberapa kawasan bawah Petaling Jaya Utara, terutamanya Damansara Jaya, Damansara Utama, SS20 and kawasan pinggiran, Bandar Utama, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Sri Damansara, terdapatnya lebih daripada 200,000 orang penduduk, akan tetapi ahli-ahli polis yang ditempatkan di kawasan Damansara cumanya 124 orang.

Apakah langkah-langkah yang akan diambil oleh kementerian untuk menambahkan bilangan ahli polis dan juga pondok polis di kawasan Petaling Jaya, khususnya di kawasan yang mencatatkan bilangan kes jenayah yang tinggi?

Mengikut OCPD Petaling Jaya, nisbah anggota polis kepada rakyat di Petaling Jaya adalah kira-kira seorang anggota polis untuk 1800 penduduk, mengikut OCPD. Malah ada kawasan di Petaling Jaya di mana nisbah seteruk seorang polis untuk 4000 orang penduduk. Ini adalah jauh kurang daripada piawai dunia iaitu seorang bagi 250 orang penduduk.

Pada masa yang sama, OCPD berkata, untuk mengurangkan kadar jenayah sebanyak 30%, nisbah ini hendaklah dikurangkan ke 1:350 – soalannya, adakah kerajaan kita mempunyai tekad untuk melaksanakan langkah-langkah yang berpatutan? Apakah nisbah sasaran untuk PJ bagi setiap tahun yang akan datang sebelum tahun 2012?

Selain daripada itu, antara aduan yang sering sekali adalah masalah anggota polis yang bersikap “tidak kesah” ataupun dengan izin, apathetic kerana tiada "urgency" untuk menyelesaikan kes-kes, terutamanya semasa menerima laporan kes. Banyak juga mengambil masa yang tidak munasabah dalam memberi prihatin kepada kes-kes yang sedang berlaku, seperti masa tiga puluh minit untuk pergi ke kawasan jenayah.

Baru sahaja pagi ini, saya mendapat aduan mengenai Pejabat Polis Sea Park melayan seorang mangsa pembokaran dari Taman Paramount dengan cara yang kurang bersopan dan menyinggungkan perasaan. Walaupun penjenayah dapat melarikan dirinya apabila dikejar, akan tetapi, dia tertinggal kasutnya. Akan tetapi pihak polis enggan menerima bahan bukti tersebut dan enggan mengambil sebarang kesan cap jari di rumahnya.

[The paragraph above was added impromptu, which wasn't actually allowed, as the adjournment speech text was to have been provided a week earlier, but I wanted to make the point with an example]

Saya, dan juga keramai ahli parlimen di Dewan ini berasa, kes baru ini akan juga menjadi fail-fail yang kian bertambah yang tidak akan mendapat penyelesaian.

Oleh itu, saya meminta Kementerian Dalam Negeri menjelaskan langkah-langkah yang terperinci untuk mengatasi masalah jenayah di Petaling Jaya, terutamanya untuk menambahkan anggota polis yang mencukupi untuk menjalankan tugas polis dengan berkesan. Adakah pelan-pelan ini tengah dilaksanakan dan bagaimanakah perkembangan pelan-pelan tersebut?

The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Dato' Chor Chee Heung responded to the issue raised, which is available here in the Hansard on page 187. I wasn't too impressed with the response, a fair bit of regurgitation of information without any real zeal to resolve the issue. I'll blog about it in the next post.

Parliamentary Caucus Hearing on Crime

Let's Fight Rising Crime Rate!

Public Hearing on Crime in Klang Valley
by Parliamentary Human Rights Caucus

Date: July 11, 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 8.00pm – 10.30pm
Venue: Dewan Sivik, Majlis Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MBPJ)

"We want the public to take this opportunity to voice their suggestions and opinions." Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Minister in Prime Minister's Department

Caucus MPs present will include:

• YB Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Caucus Chairman,
• YB Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader,
• YB Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, MP for Permatang Pauh.

All are welcome to express your views, and make written submissions. Admission is free.

The Hall can occupy 1,000 people, hence for those who can make it, please do so to make a point on the seriousness of the issue of crime in our cities.

Police Recruitment & Organisation

My question on state of recruitment for new police officers as well as its organisation got answered yesterday. I'll provide the question and answer verbatim here before providing my comments. I asked the Minister of Home Affairs to state:

...kedudukan pengrekrutan anggota polis yang amat diperlukan untuk mengurangkan kes jenayah yang amat serius dan apakah jumlah anggota polis terkini mengikut pecahan tanggungjawab mereka.

The reply was as follows:

Untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, pada tahun 2007, PDRM telah melantik seramai 4070 anggota berpangkat Inspektor dan Konstabel. Daripada jumlah tersebut, seramai 1,030 anggota berpangkat Inspektor (753 lelaki, 277 wanita) dan seramai 3,040 anggota berpangkat Konstabel (2,169 lelaki, 871 wanita).

Bagi tahun 2008, PDRM telah merancang untuk melantik 10,000 anggota polis berpangkat Inspektor dan Konstabel. Daripada jumlah tersebut, seramai 1,000 anggota berpangkat Inspektor (850 lelaki, 150 wanita) dijangka akan dilantik pada bulan Jun dan September ini.

PDRM juga telah merancang untuk melantik seramai 9,000 anggota polis berpangkat Konstabel yang terdiri daripada anggota lelaki dan wanita. Bagi fasa pertama iaitu seramai 768 anggota lelaki telahpun dilantik pada 16 Februari 2008 dan kini ditempatkan di PULAPOL Muar (515 anggota) dan PULAPL Kota Kinabalu (253 anggota).

Bagi fasa kedua, seramai 1,590 anggota lelaki dan wanita akan dilantik iaitu pada 15 Mei 2008 (850 anggota lelaki) dan pada 1 Jun 2008 (740 anggota wanita). Anggota-anggota berkenaan akan ditempatkan di PULAPOL Kuching dan PULAPOL Ayer Hitam.

Jumlah keanggotaan polis mengikut pecahan tanggungjawab jabatan-jabatan di bawah PDRM berakhir 31 Mac 2008 ialah seramai 96,406 orang iaitu Jabatan Pengurusan (35,662) Jabatan Keselamatan Dalam Negeri dan Ketenteraman Awam (31,635), Jabatan Logistik (10,793), Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah (8,673), Cawangan Khas (4,923), Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Narkotik (3,357), Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersial (1,141 dan Jawatan Kader (222).

For the year of 2007, PDRM has recruited a total of 4,070 officers as with the rank Inspectors and Constables. This forms part of the objective of the PDRM to recruit some 60,000 new officers to meet the challenges of the rapid rise in crime in Malaysia.

This recruitment to date is clearly short of what is required to meet the needs of the country. Hence, what is needed as an immediate short term measure is to restructure the police force and redeploy more police officers to be patrolling the streets as recommended by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police (Royal Police Commission).

However, based on the information provided by the Minister, clearly no such actions to restructure the police force have been undertaken.

As of 31 March 2008, the allocation responsibilities remain largely unchanged from the previous years as follows:

Administration & Management 35,662 37.0%
Internal Security & Public Order 31,635 32.8%
Logistics 10,793 11.2%
Criminal Investigations 8,673 9.0%
Special Branch 4,923 5.1%
Narcotics Investigations 3,357 3.5%
Commercial Crimes 1,141 1.2%
Cadet 222 0.2%

Clearly from the figures presented, the Police Force remains heavily lobsided in terms of structure with a overstaffed administration and management as well as logistics department (48.2%) as opposed to the criminal investigations department (9%). Combining the internal security and public order department with the Special branch will add to another 37.9% of the entire force.

The crime index in Malaysia rose by a record 45% between 2003 and 2007 with violent crimes increasing by 119% and initial figures provided by the Government shows that the upward trend is continuing unabated in 2008.

Is it not of utmost urgency that the Royal Malaysian Police immediately reallocate and restructure at least 30% of the police force, currently within the administration & management, internal security & public order, logistics as well as special branch to the understaffed Criminal Investigations Department and their related units to ensure that the unprecendented escalation of crime is stopped on its tracks.

If no action is taken to restructure the police force, while waiting for new recruits to be gradually hired and trained, then clearly the Barisan Nasional government has failed to learn its lessons from the elections of March 8th, and is not serious about its so-called “All-out War Against Crime” announced by the Prime Minister a year ago.

No IPCMC In Sight

Some 40-50% of the complaints I receive via email are on matters with regards to the state of crime in Malaysia, and in particular, Petaling Jaya. The matter never fails to raise its ugly head whenever we have held dialogues with the residents. So what is the government doing about it?

On my part, it is impossible for the MP or ADUNs is unable to do much about the matter without the co-operation of the police. We have tried to see the OCPD of Petaling Jaya since the 4th of April, twice the appointment was set, and twice it was postponed by the OCPD at the last minute. I've finally got another response today to have the dialogue on this Wednesday 3pm. Hopefully, it won't be postponed at the last minute again.

However, on the national front, we are looking pressing the Barisan Nasional government to set up the originally promised but much delayed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) in order to re-establish the credibility of the police force, as well as improving its efficiency and effectiveness.

IPOH TIMOR had on 7th May asked the Minister of Home Affairs:

...sama ada Kerajaan sekarang akan menubuhkan IPCMC untuk mengadakan satu perkhidmatan polis bertaraf dunia yang cekap, beramanah dan profesional demi mengurangkan jenayah, menghapuskan rasuah dan menghormati hak asasi manusia - mesej jelas "tsunami politik" 8 Mac 2008

And unfortunately, the reply was short and disappointing:

Kerajaan telah memutuskan untuk menarik semula Rang Undang-Undang Suruhanjaya Aduan Khas 2007 (Special Complaints Commission) yang telah dibaca untuk kali pertama di Dewan Rakyat pada 13 Disember 2007.

Which of course is totally and absolutely ignoring the question that IPOH TIMOR had asked. The Special Complaints Commission was nothing close to the IPCMC recommended by the Royal Commission on the Malaysian Police Force.

Iskandar Development Region: Reality or Hype?

I was in Johor Bahru yesterday, accompanying my boss who was visiting branch members in the south of the country. At the request of some members, I was asked to speak at the meeting. I was certainly less than prepared, especially when I had to deliver the same speech interspersed in Mandarin and Malay. Goodness, it must have been the first speech I've delivered in Malay since my 'A' Levels some 17 years ago!

Being an economic advisor to my boss, and speaking at the "centre" of one of the most-hyped economic projects by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, it was destined that I had to talk about the Iskandar Development Region (IDR). So, does it deserve the hype?

I spoke of IDR's potential and the topic of human capital as a critical factor in its success, outlining some of the examples highlighted in my previous post on human capital. (Wah, interestingly, the Straits Times Singapore published the entire article today as well - giving it a new title "Singapre's gain, Malaysia's loss". I hadn't expected that).

I have also done some research for my boss, with the key findings outlined below (fairly long!).

Iskandar Development Region (IDR): Reality or Hype?

It is commendable effort by the Malaysian Government to establish the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), which promises great potential for the region. Given Johor's strategic location in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore growth triangle, the proposed development region - an area encompassing 2,217 square kilometres, which is three times the size of Singapore – appears long overdue.

The proposal to create a “Shenzhen” for Malaysia looks good on paper. The city of Shenzhen, next to Hong Kong, offers a glimpse of the vast amounts of investment dollars that could flow into the IDR if it lives up to its potential. The Shenzhen special economic zone (SEZ) of China is 2,020 sq km, slightly smaller than the IDR, and it managed to attract over US$30 billion in the past two decades, helping create GDP of nearly 493 billion renminbi (S$97 billion) in 2005. Shenzhen was declared China's first SEZ in 1980, and the central government ensured the province was governed by special policies. Flexible measures aimed at securing foreign investment involved incentives and relaxed rules on international trade.

It became China's fastest growing city for nearly three decades and, from 2001 to 2005, saw an economic expansion that averaged 16 per cent.

However, it will be overly simplistic to assume guaranteed success purely from a Blueprint created by Atkins, UK's leading town planning consultant and a strategic comparison with Shenzhen. The success of IDR depends critically on several factors, which at this point of time, leaves much to be desired.

1. Foreign Investment

Most importantly, IDR's success is critically dependent on foreign investment, or a projected RM382 billion over the next 20 years. This amount is more than the entire RM245 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) the whole country received over the past 20 years.

Just as Hong Kong became Shenzhen's largest source of investment, the success of IDR will be equally dependent on investment from Singapore. However, Singapore's investment in Johor has dropped to an alarming level. In the first eight months of 2006, Singaporean investment in the state stood at only RM208.9 million.

This is only a mere 11 percent of the total investment from Singapore in 2005, according to statistics given by the Johor State Investment Centre (JSIC). Last year, the Singaporean investment stood at RM1.9 billion.

And it is not just the investment from across the Causeway that has gone down. The FDI into the state too has hit a stumbling block. Until August in 2006, FDI to the state stood at RM2.4 billion - just 44 percent of the total amount which flooded in last year.

Even in 2005, when Johor received record FDI at RM5.9 billion, this amount is a far cry from an average of RM19.1 billion required to make IDR a success.

2. Crime & Safety

JSIC senior manager Mohamed Basir Mohamed Sali when interviewed by Malaysiakini at the end of last year said that "Singaporeans think Johor is not a safe state, but actually this issue was played up by the media in both countries... Yes, we have some security problems, but they do not involve the whole state, they are limited in certain areas, Johor is still as safe as candy."

The continued denial of the existence of one of the most serious problems facing the country at this point of time does not bode well for the economic success of the IDR. The crime index in the country released by the Royal Police Force has worsened from 156,315 cases in 2003 to 226,836 cases in 2006 – a sharp rise of 45.1% in the past three years when the police force had set the target of reducing the crime index by five per cent each year.

In the past three years, violent crime had skyrocketed by 85.8 per cent from 22,790 cases in 2003 to 42,343 cases in 2006, with rape cases registering the highest increase of 65.5 per cent – reaching an average of 6.7 women raped daily in 2006 compared to an average of four women raped daily in 2003. In 2003, an average of 1.5 persons were murdered daily; but in 2006, this has increased to an average of 1.65 persons murdered daily.

On 10th April, a six-month pregnant woman lost her baby after she was attacked by four robbers in the toilet of a petrol station in Jalan Tebrau. Just last week, a 21-year-old clerk was robbed and brutally stabbed to death as her father slept in another room at their double-storey house in Taman Skudai Baru. And just 2 days ago, a 14-year-old girl who befriended a stranger at a telephone booth was raped by him in Tanjung Langsat.

Hence it is unsurprising that both investors and tourists, particularly from Singapore has been dissuaded or at best, lukewarm towards investing and spending their dollars in Johor. Letters in the Singapore Straits Times for example, as recently as 4th April, have called Johor Bahru as a “cowboy town”.

3. A Mega-Property Development Project?

Many sceptics who fear the plan could degenerate into just another exercise in grandiose real estate development. At this point of time, the entire project appears focused almost entirely on real estate development. The recent abolishment of the real property gains tax points was directed at increased property purchase and transactions for land in the IDR.

One of the leading developers in IDR, UMNO-linked UEM Land's plans this time around are nothing if not grand. Besides a theme park, edu-city and medical hub - all three Khazanah-owned and driven - UEM Land's main developments include a logistics cluster, an international destination resort with an eco-based theme park, state administrative centre and a waterfront project at Puteri Harbour.

Mr Talhar, who is also group chairman of CH Williams, Talhar & Wong, cautioned against too much emphasis on property. “Real estate accommodates meaningful economic activities. Economic activities have to come first. Land per se doesn't produce economic activities,” he rightfully argued.

The Government must learn from the lack of success at Cyberjaya, which was a special economic zone dedicated to high-technology related activities such as software development. Similarly, we must learn from the total failures of BioValley and E-Village which were dedicated to biotechnology and multimedia content creation respectively. Despite having investment millions in these projects, their emphasis on construction and property development without a properly thought out strategies for the actual projects have resulted in their failures.

Otherwise, some of the IDR plans for another dedicated ICT-hub, theme park and medical hub might just end up as ghost towns.

4. Government Policy Consistency

The decision by Malaysia's Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) to deny the sale of a building to Singapore's Great Eastern is only an example of policy inconsistency and the lack of transparency. Great Eastern had proposed to acquire Wisma Denmark from bumiputera businessman Ibrahim Mohamed for RM150 million and believed it had the deal in the bag. But after months of waiting for FIC approval, the parties were finally informed the proposed acquisition was rejected, with no reasons given.

In Johor for example, the existing massive property glut is a result of state policy requiring at least 40 per cent of all development projects be sold to bumiputeras, and the subsequent stamping of those titles as such.

Hence unless the state gives its approval, a bumiputera wanting to dispose of his property can only sell it to a fellow bumiputera, and these secondary titles and conditions have depressed market demand. The question then is whether the continuation of such a policy will result in more project failures within the IDR.

5. Unequal Treatment of Foreign vs Local Investors

While the Government has recently trumpeted its move to remove the 30% bumiputera quota requirement for investments in the IDR, closer scrutiny leaves much to be desired. The proposed waiver of the NEP's 30% equity requirement would only involve investments in two specified areas in the IDR, encompassing a small area of 1,780 hectares and with the caveat that foreign investors there must have business dealings outside the country.

This means that such a policy is not applicable to local investors, and by definition, local non-bumiputera investors. The policy is perplexing because domestic investments can bring equal amounts of economic returns and contributions to the region and country when compared with foreign investors. Hence the discriminatory policies practiced by the Government clearly marginalises local non-bumiputera businessmen.

The 5 five points highlighted above are not the only challenges and issues facing our government's plan to make IDR a success. However, they clearly demonstrate the uphill battle which the government face and the lack of political will which is necessary to make the project a success. Barisan Nasional NEP-guided government has been obsessed with the hardware of development – property, heavy industry, mega-infrastructure projects, ports, bridges and airports - but neglected the human software needed to compete in a modern global economy. And to quote the man-on-the-street, “a part-liberalized, part-restricted IDR is unlikely to bridge that yawning gap”.

Key Sources:

• Getting the Johor project off the ground
• Asean's Shenzhen takes shape
• Breathing life into Johor's waterfront
• Malaysian hub plan runs into race debate
• Johor Still Hopeful for a Windfall
• Johor Not Conducive for Investment

Syed Hamid Appoints Perception Expert

Over the past week, the police force as well as the Deputy Prime Minister have launched a concerted "public relations" attempt to fight the "perception" that crime is high in Malaysia, instead of fighting crime itself. They had loudly proclaimed that Malaysia is a safer place than countries such as Japan, Hong Kong and is even comparable to Singapore.

However, the exercised proved shortlived as DAP presented hard facts and information over the past few days via press conferences and in Parliament itself, that Malaysia is in not in anyway safer than Japan or Hong Kong, or even comparable to Singapore. I've blogged the research in detail here, or to quote Sdr Lim Kit Siang on his blog:

For instance, homicide per 100,000 population is 1.09 cases in Japan, 0.26 cases in Hong Kong but 2.12 in Malaysia; while rape per 100,000 population is 1.62 in Japan, 1.54 in Hong Kong while in Malaysia it is 11.47. For robbery per 100,000 population, it is 4.78 for Japan, 17.56 for Hong Kong while 90.49 for Malaysia.

Instead of taking the criticisms in the right spirit, and start to really act on crime in Malaysia, guess what our Home Minister decided to persist with his fight with "perception". I have just read in Financial Daily today that

...[t]he government intends to appoint an expert in criminal studies from a local university to do research on crime rate in the country in an effort to convince the people that the crime rate in Malaysia is lower than that in several other countries.

WHAT?! Faint(!) (If you want to faint a second time, read the report from The Star here)

Will someone be willing to pay and engage an "expert" in our local university to do a research to produce a report which will convince the Government that they are doing a terrible job in solving crime and that crime really is getting unbearable in this country?

I've provided all the relevant links and data sources for the information we have in our press statements as well as on my blog. These are the all sourced from the official government websites in Japan and Singapore. The police and Ministry just have to verify those information to obtain the "truth"!

With a Home Minister like Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, is there hope that crime will actually stop increasing, much less reducing it? I can only shake my head in absolutely and total disgust.

Crime is all Perception

That's what the Royal Malaysian Police and the Government would like you to think. Clearly, it seems if since the Police can't fight crime effectively, the next best thing to do is to fight perception.

The Royal Malaysian Police and the Deputy Prime Minister have over the past few days, gone on an offensive to blame the high crime rates in Malaysia on “perception”.

The Star reported on 30th November that the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Ismail Omar said the latest statistics showed the crime index to be 772 cases per 100,000 residents and compared it favourably against Singapore which according to him “recorded 704.7 cases, Hong Kong (1,166), Japan (1,569) and Australia (4,470)”.

On 1st December, the IGP himself, Tan Sri Musa Hassan was reported in the New Straits Times saying that “our crime rate is still low compared with many other countries although the global trend shows an increase... Singapore's crime rate is 740.7 cases for every 100,000 population, Hong Kong's is 1,166, Japan's is 1,569, Australia's is 4,470 and Rome's is 8,341.”

As reported in the Malaysian Insider, “Malaysia is still a very safe country, but the problem is public perception. We are trying our level best to give a correct picture,” Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Mohd Bakri Zinin told The Straits Times.

And as reported in the media today, our Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said that "our perception of crime must change" because “based on the statistics given by the police, it indicates that the crime rate in Malaysia is lower than Japan and Hong Kong.”

The above appears to be a concerted effort by the Government to downplay the significance of 2% increase in the crime index as of October this year compared to last year, as well as to blame the public concerons over high crime rates in Malaysia as a matter of misplaced “perception”.

Howvever, the Royal Malaysian Police has failed to provide the full picture in the statistics provided and instead have given a misleading perception that Malaysia is much safer than Japan, which is renown as one of the safest countries in the world.

Based on statistics provided by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, in 2007, the crime rate per 100,000 is 1,493.6. However, approximately 75% of this number is classified as “larceny” or theft (e.g., shoplifting etc.)

Similarly in 2005, the crime rate per 100,000 is 1,775.7. However, larceny made up 76% of all cases, while violent crimes which includes homicide, arson, rape, bodily injury etc., made up 3.8% or 66.6 cases per 100,000. Homicide and rape cases form 1.09 and 1.62 cases per 100,000 population respectively. In contrast, for 2007, violent crimes recorded 180.1 cases per 100,000 while homicide and rape cases in Malaysia form 2.12 and 11.47 cases per 100,000 population respectively.

The biggest contrast is for robbery cases in Japan which records only 4.69 cases per 100,000 while it's a staggering 88.76 cases for Malaysia. Similarly, criminal intimidation in Japan records only 1.92 cases per 100,000 while in Malaysia it's 21.31 cases. Hence, the Government's attempts to paint a picture that Malaysia is much safer than Japan is clearly misleading at best. In fact, from the statistics of violent crimes above, Malaysia is a much more dangerous place when compared to Japan.

To further illustrate how the comparisons with the countries highlighted is misleading is that the Malaysian index includes on violent and property crimes, but excludes white collar and moral crimes. For the Japanese index, “intellectual offences” (e.g., fraud, embezzlement, counterfeit etc.) and moral offences makes up 20% of the total crime rate in 2005.

Similarly in Singapore, the Singapore Police Force announced a crime rate of 715 per 100,000 in 2007 where commercial and miscellaneous crimes constitute 21.8% of the index. Hence the claim that Malaysia is nearly as safe as Singapore is clearly unfounded.

In addition, separate crimes ranking table compiled by NationMaster, Malaysia is ranked 34th in terms of the number of murders per capita, which is higher compared to Australia (43), Italy (47), Hong Kong (59) and Japan (60). In terms of rapes per capita, we are ranked 38th, but still ahead of Italy (46), Japan (54) and Hong Kong (55).

Therefore, while Malaysia is clearly not the worst country in the world in terms of crime, the fact that the crime index has risen by more than 45% since 2003, while violent crimes have increased by more than 85% demonstrates clearly the dire circumstances we are in.

The people of Malaysia no longer feel secure and safe walking the streets. Hence the Government's attempts to change the “perception of crime” in Malaysia by citing statistics which are most misleading is most irresponsible. Instead of continuously blaming public perception as the key reason why crime is seen as serious in this country, the Government and the Royal Malaysian Police should instead focus its efforts in fighting crime and improving its credibility with tangible steps, such as implementing the full recommendations of the Royal Police Commission report which included the restructuring of the police force such that 30% of the police force is transferred from administrative to crime-fighting functions as well as to set up the all-important Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

Crime Alert!

Updated: Earlier, I've posted here a case whereby a young lady was abducted in Shah Alam. Apparently, the case has been "resolved" with nobody harmed. I'm unfortunately not privy to the details - but I've decided to remove the posting accordingly, to avoid further unnecessary publicity for the victim.

Thank you everyone for your concern and vigilance.

International Women's Day

Ah, roses, the ladies certainly loved them ;)

I was at the SS2 morning market on Thursday, International Women's Day, to distribute roses to womenfolk together with YB Teresa Kok, our MP for Seputeh as well as the DAP Petaling Jaya Action Team. Here's some photos for your viewing pleasure ;)

That's me, coping with the demand ;)

That's Lau Weng San, DAP Selangor state secretary
& political secretary to Lim Guan Eng

(From left) Weng San, Ean Yong Hian Wah (DAP Selangor State Chairman),
yours truly, YB Teresa Kok, Thomas Goh and Lim Ai San

In addition, I also issued a statement calling on the government to take immediate steps to make the streets of Malaysia, particularly in urban centres in Malaysia like Petaling Jaya.

The recent crime statistics makes for some ugly reading. The Royal Police Commission report had stated that violent crime grew from 16,919 cases in 1997 to 21,859 in 2004. That's an increase of 29.2% over the 8 years.

However, as recently announced, the past 3 years alone saw violent crime soaring by an unbelievable 93.7% from 21,859 cases in 2003 to 42,343 cases in 2006. The number of women raped increased from 4 to 6.7 victims daily from 2003 to 2006. And that is only the reported cases, as we are fully aware that rape cases are significantly under-reported in this country.

Women should certainly be able to walk our streets without fears for the safety at any time of the day. The ratio of 1 policeman for every 5,500 citizens in PJ for example, is far too high compared to recommended international standards of 1 to 250 citizens. It's time to sit up and take notice.

Hitting Women

The Menteri Besar of Kelantan, and PAS spiritual leader, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat made an off the cuff comment with regards to the use of force by the Police yesterday. Essentially he said that the public cannot blame the police if they are forced to resort to such measures. While his comment leaves room for ethical debate, his subtantiation for his argument however, leaves a bad taste in the mouth (to say the least).

He argued that "Islam itself permits a father to hit a child, a husband to hit a wife in certain situations. This is practiced throughout the world."

Umm... excuse me, Tok Guru, which "world" are you talking about? The medieval world of the 13th century?

There is absolutely no reason for a husband to hit a wife, or a man to hit a woman under any circumstances. There is no situation I can think of in which violence is necessary or even justified.

A relationship between a husband and wife is built on trust, mutual respect and love. This relationship cannot be strengthened through fear and violence. We are not even talking about human rights here. The simple fact is a marital relationship breaks down with a physically abusive spouse.

No man or woman is without shortcomings. In a loving marital relationship, we learn to live and work around these shortcomings to strengthen our understanding of our partners better. In matters of dispute, a gentle discussion focused on the objective of resolving the issue at hand should be carried out instead. Hitting the wife does not resolve the dispute, it merely postpones and snowballs the problem.

And even when the disagreement cannot be resolved to the total satisfaction of all parties, there should be tolerance and forgiveness in the hearts of both parties.

I hope that Tok Guru will clarify his statement to protect the interest of women, and not have his words used as by unscrupulous men to abuse their wives.

Today is International Womens' Day to celebrate and promote the interest of womenfolk young and old, irrespective of race or religion. Hitting women is a big no no.

Now, hitting on women? That's a different matter altogether ;)

Crime City II

I've written on Crime City earlier with first hand anecdotes of friends and associates who became victims of crime in the past year. It is my contention that when such reports are heard first hand at such a frequent basis, instead of being just second or third hand reports, it clearly indicates that crime in this country has reached precarious levels.

Over the past month, I believe that my contention is now vindicated. Trust me, I'd much rather be totally wrong on this, for it will mean that there are and will be much fewer victims of crime in this country.

Firstly, we have Datuk Albert Mah, 82, a former Penang Chief Police Officer (CPO) passed away due to head injuries inflicted by robbers in his residence at affluent Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya. Albert Mah was a top cop and gave 35 years of his distinguished life to serving the Malaysian Police Force. It cannot be of any greater irony that he lost his life to crime in his own home. The same police force which he served, has clearly failed their very own loyal servant.

To quote Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Sdr Lim Kit Siang, “the clear message of Mah’s tragic and senseless killing is that no one is safe in Malaysia anymore, whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of the home. If a former top crime buster and ex-CPO could killed so senselessly in the privacy of his home, who is safe in Malaysia?”

Secondly, in data just released last month, the statistics are frightfully damning.

The Royal Police Commission report had stated that violent crime grew from 16,919 cases in 1997 to 21,859 in 2004. That's an increase of 29.2% over the 8 years.

However, as recently announced, the past 2 years alone saw violent crime soaring by an unbelievable 93.7% from 21,859 cases in 2003 to 42,343 cases in 2006. The number of women raped increased from 4 to 6.7 victims daily from 2003 to 2006. And that is only the reported cases, as we are fully aware that rape cases are significantly under-reported in this country.

In Petaling Jaya (PJ) alone where Datuk Albert Mah suffered his premature demise, the crime index increased by more than 22% over the past year alone. That is higher than the national average increase of 15.7%, or 14.3% for Selangor. The ratio of 1 policeman for every 5,500 citizens in PJ is far too high compared to recommended international standards of 1 to 250 citizens.

Obviously there are clearly many things wrong with our policing system. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had promised us a safer country to live in since he took over the Prime Ministership. The Royal Malaysian Police Force had promised us an annual improvement of 5% in the crime index. Both parties are clearly failing the rakyat, and failing miserably. Unfortunately, we do not have Batman and Co. guarding our streets at night...

Do We Live in The Simpsons Country?

For those who have not watched Malaysiakini's video on the 21 of us being charged by the Attorney General's office for gathering to light candles and sing the national anthem, here it is.

More interestingly, K Anand, who writes at The Malaysian Insider brings back memories of a 2006 episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Monkey Suit", where Lisa attempted to bring the Theory of Evolution into schools, and got arrested for her troubles. The parody is just frighteningly similar to what's happening to our Bolehland today...

Lisa then decides to go underground, organising a class after regular school hours to teach her classmates about Darwin and his book “The Origin of the Species”.

As she starts her first class, the door of the room is busted open by Police Chief Wiggum of the Springfield Police Department and his two deputies, guns drawn, arresting a young girl who was just trying to educate her fellow students.

Lisa says something to the effect that “there are harden criminals out there and you want to arrest me”, to which Wiggum replies “we only work based on the last law passed”, which was the one made at the town hall meeting above.

As they are talking, the scene shifts to the Kwik-E-Mart where a machine-gun toting criminal is randomly shooting at passersby from the rooftop. Looking through the window, Chief Wiggum just shrugs and says “ahhh... on another day we would have been all over that scene”.

Way to go, Malaysia.

Batman, Where Are You?

I wrote this column for Oriental Daily 2 weeks ago, but forgot to post it last week. It's an adaptation of a blog post I wrote here a while back on "Crime City".

蝙蝠侠在哪里？

在过去几个月，除了通过新闻报道获知之外，你还从朋友、朋友的朋友，还有朋友的朋友的朋友身上知道国内城市的罪案令人非常担忧。

有一位曾是同事的朋友在其位于八打灵再也住家前，被一位在车内持巴冷刀等待的“友善男士”所抢劫。

一位来自新加坡的朋友，光天化日在吉隆坡城市中心（KLCC）附近被人扒走钱包。（我为这个国家惭愧极了！）

上个月，我的妹妹大白天在敦依斯迈医生花园走路去工作时，却被匪徒亮刀抢劫。

在我之前公司任职的一位员工，在过去3年就经历两次暴力攫夺案。第一次，她就被送入医院求医。当然， 她并非办公室内唯一的罪案受害者。

另一位管理级员工在离开汽车不到10分钟时间，即被人从车尾厢撬走手提电脑。去年12月，国会反对党领袖林吉祥亦面对同样的命运。

我的嫂嫂所任职的对外贸易办公室，同样在大白天被人劫走电脑器材。

另一位前职员去年被人偷走其运动型休旅车。曾是我商业亲密伙伴的马来西亚IBM总经理，去年杪亦被人驾车其轿车。这还不包括那些在购买新车后，只在数分钟即被人驾走新车的人士。

在去年开斋节期间，我的住家亦遭爆劫。

过去3年，我国的暴力罪案飙升高达93.7％，即从2003年2万1千859宗增至2006年4万2千343宗。每一天平均所发表的强奸案亦从2003年4宗增至今年8宗。然而，这还不包括未向警方投报的案件。

请认真想一想，你难道不认为很恐怖呢？这一切难道是因为这个国家被一群无能的部长，尤其将矛头直指人民的国内安全部副部长莫哈末佐哈里所管理？又或者我国的警队根本没有全力扑灭罪案？再不然，这跟国家经济下滑有关？

尽管我非常关注治安的问题，然而若每个人对国内治安不理不睬，这是相当令人担忧的。（难道这跟年龄有关？）难道我们逐渐沦落为《蝙蝠侠》电影里头的愚人城市(Gotham City)？

我们的蝙蝠侠去了哪里？我们在庆祝国庆50周年的当儿，是否能够看到蝙蝠侠出现呢？哦，国庆日快乐！啊……你们快乐吗？