Government members of parliament who spoke out against the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission are being terribly unfair to the tens of thousands of good, honest cops stigmatised by a rotten few in their midst. One would imagine that the IPCMC would be a welcomed arbiter against the allegedly unfair brickbats thrown at PDRM as a whole.

Honest people are never afraid of public scrutiny, especially in the performance of their public duty. The said MPs whose constituents comprise ordinary citizens, seem to be more protective of professional public servants than they are of those who they represent.

Is accountability such a dirty word plaguing those who have a taste of power? Especially when the overseer represent the specified interests of the very people they had sworn to protect? Especially when some of the laws enforceable are inherently draconian in nature and which the courts have admitted to be outside judicial review?

Seems to me that it is bad faith on the part of the MPs to deny the rakyat the recommendation of the Police Royal Commission on account of their concern over 'outside interference in police work'. Please be reminded that the rakyat are not outsiders.

The rakyat is the reason the PDRM exists and the reason these MPs are in Parliament. PDRM is not a separate branch of government (nor a government in itself) and its functions and performance are very much within public domain.

MPs who are pushing for internal and self-regulation as the alternative are missing the point. This is an issue of public confidence; to boost it in order for the rakyat to embrace PDRM as a trusted ally in their everyday lives.

When Parliament failed in self-regulating its own conduct in parliamentary proceedings, the public can afford to just dismiss their zoo-like behaviour as juvenile indulgence of hapless rubber-stamps. But should the police fail in self-regulation, it has acute and irreversible repercussions to the individuals victimised.

In essence, this differing impact to the public reflects the different malignancy of a crooked cop compared to a stupid MP.