The Strong Arm of the Law

The Strong Arm of the Law – Who does it Serve?
Yin Ee Kiong

In his talk “Nation Before Self” Dato Seri Yuen Yuet Leng spoke about the ‘professionalism’ of the police force during his time. He spoke of a police force which did its duty without fear or favour – irrespective of race, creed or political colouring. He mentioned his boss Haniff (the IGP) who would rather resign than bow to political pressures.

That was another era when even the fiercest critic of the force had at least a modicum of respect for the uniform.

No more! It would be a fair observation that Malaysians do not hold the police in high regard today. And this is of it’s (the police’s) own doing.

The perception of the police today is that it is malleable, bending to political pressures rather than applying the law impartially.
It is on record that strict rules are applied (often brutally) to anti government protests even when they are peaceful. Women and children amongst the protesters are showered with chemical laced water cannons. The FRU charge and beat up peaceful protesters who offer no resistance. Even the simple act of holding a candlelit vigil or asking people to wear black can result in arrests (under what law?). Statements or comments made by Opposition politicians are scrutinised for treason or sedition and arrests made on the merest hint of either.

Yet the police do nothing when the same is done by the ruling party.
Khairy had led a protest against Condelleza Rice without police permit. Ahmad Ismail has made racist statements in Penang. UMNO Youth had protested in front of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and threatened to burn it down. An unruly crowd had gathered outside the Cititel Hotel Penang to protest against a legitimate meeting on Article 11 inside the hotel. Instead of arresting the protesters the police demanded that the meeting be ended.
And to top it all the police did nothing when Najib raised his kris and promised to bathe it in Chinese blood at an UMNO gathering in 1988 – nothing was done.

How many deaths are there in police custody?
How many of those who are arrested under the ISA are really threats to the security of the nation – rather than embarrassments to the government? Was the arrest of the journalist who reported what was said really seditious or was it the source of the statement? Why arrest the messenger and not the source?
Our police seem to operate on the basis of arrest first, investigate later – the ISA and other laws have been used as the easy way out of good police work.

Our society’s freedom in the final analysis depends on the measure of our police force’s accountability to the public it serves. Yet our police have blatantly opposed the previous prime minister’s proposal for the IPCMC. Is the tail wagging the dog?
In the end it’s a case of one scratching the other’s back. It serves BN to give the police a long leash. In return the police turns a blind eye to BN's shenanigans.

There is such a fear injected into our national psyche by some politicians. Racial and civil disorder is used to justify bullying, violation of our civil rights and police brutality. May 13 was once a powerful weapon used by the government to quell public discontent. The election of March 2008 showed that it has lost its potency.

Our police force is politicised when it is used to evict a Speaker of a State Assembly or to shut out one set of politicians in favour of another. In that ugly and shameful episode, they are not the only guilty ones - the civil servants were just as much to blame.

Will we ever see professionalism return to our police force that Yuen so fondly recollects?