I refer to the malaysiakini report We want personal security, not Sukhois which reported on the public hearing on crime in Petaling Jaya last week held by the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance.

Well, the big meeting came and went, and I left feeling a bit empty. It wasn't hunger although it was already 11.50pm. What has become of our beloved country? Reading crime reports and hearing first hand accounts are different. There are so many reports on crime, fear and insecurity, and inefficiency, incompetence or sheer indifference on the part of the people supposed to be in charge of the crime and security of the country.

A number of speakers, notably from Subang Jaya, spoke of their community's successes in bringing down the crime rate through their initiatives and efforts with the assistance of the police but the most telling indictment of the situation was when about three-quarter way through the hearings, a lady speaker (after relating her traumatic experience of having had her bag snatched from within her house compound in PJ) asked the audience, possibly about 300 to 400, how many had a personal experience of a crime or robbery committed against them.

Almost everyone raised his/her hand to one of these two questions. When asked if anyone had his/her case solved, no hand was raised. And there were at least two young men who went up to the mike and spoke of their sadness at what was happening in our country. Not least was the fact that at least three speakers who spoke of the need for change and improvement in the police were 'sons' of policemen from the old days who related their parents's experience with pride.

Yes, the empty feeling of sadness. There appeared to be no effective answers provided against the tsunami of crime sweeping the country; certainly not from the caucus members who sat silently throughout the meeting except for the MC who conducted the meeting and the chairman who spoke briefly at the start and end of the meetings mainly on the objectives of the caucus and why the press had been kept out yes, kept out of a public meeting! Apparently he was afraid the press may be irresponsible and whip up sensational stories for the public who could not attend.

Well, actually the 50 or so speakers, many representing their residents associations and housing areas, spoke responsibly, spoke very well and brought up many good points and suggestions on the crime situation and what actually was happening on the ground - this despite the time allowed for speakers rule changing from four minutes per speaker to three and then two minutes as the meeting continued. Some had come prepared with sheaves of notes which of course they could not finish reading out. They were asked to submit or send their written notes to the caucus' office at Parliament House.

The main points which were presented to the 13 or so caucus MPs present, from both sides of the house, were:

Crime prevention

Good security is essential for the citizens and for the economy. Why has there been so much emphasis on the purchase of fighter planes and submarines costing billions when we have no credible external threats? The internal threats of crime, robbery and other lawlessness are very serious and yet, relatively little attention has been paid to the requirements of the police and their equipment.

Prevention of crime should be emphasised. It should not only involve the police but also the other government departments such as the Immigration, local councils, etc. Education against crime in schools is required.

Cases of poor coordination and sharing of information of foreign workers between the police and immigration were cited. Often, information on foreign runaway workers is not available from the immigration and these workers could easily apply for another passport and identity.

Data on crime committed by foreigners is not accurate because often they are not caught. More statistics on crimes committed, where, and the number of successful cases solved is required to keep the public informed of the crime situation and to take appropriate measures.

Victims of crime are traumatised by their experience and live lives of fear, even months after the event. They are also inconvenienced or made to pay again by the authorities. One speaker cited her case where she had been made to pay for her new MyKad lost to a snatch thief, despite exemptions announced while another said that his documents including passport were held by the police until the court case was over as evidence.

Gated communities were relatively successful in crime prevention but older developed areas with no similar opportunities were deprived of this means to reduce crime. Appeals were made for more lenient and flexible rules on closure of roads and building of barriers and guard houses from the local councils to allow better control of people moving in the areas concerned.

Some speakers spoke for the Rukun Tetangga scheme but at least one felt that this could not be relied on and the response would not be good if any RT member were seriously hurt.

Crime is mainly caused by the poor and substance abusers. Reduction of disparity of income and also better use of available facilities and resources for them are needed. Action against the Mat Rempits was also requested.

The government of the day is responsible for the state of the country. Local MPs must be more active and visible in their constituencies.

Police force

Higher visibility of the police is required - there is no point claiming many are on patrol in plain clothes when this is not obvious. Also, there is no point for all the PR exercises in the press when they is more required to be done on the ground.

Better deployment of the comparatively large police force in our country is required. Apparently out of the 100,000-strong force (say 1 for 250 for 25 million population), 33,000 are involved in administration and 40,000 are involved in information gathering, etc.

More policemen on patrol are required - there are very low ratios of police to population in some townships, e.g, only 35 policemen and three patrol cars for Kota Damansara and this for a135,000-strong population.

A multi-racial police force, as in the past, would be more effective in information-gathering and crime prevention. Also, to beef up the force, fit and effective retired policemen should be re-employed and others, eg, ex-military personnel, etc, should be considered (after adequate training) to beef up the force.

Police should patrol on bicycles as in Penang and Malacca to get closer to the population (and also become fitter). If possible, houses should be rented for them to stay in the townships with high crime rates.

Even areas in front of the police station were not immune to crime, e.g, in Section 8, PJ, 80 cases of snatch thieves had occurred, despite reports by the resident association. No 'traps' or attempts to catch the thieves were apparently made. There were a number of calls from those present for more efforts to catch the culprits by the police.

Police should use modern technology, walkie-talkies, mobile phones etc and be competent in use of VCD equipment for viewing CCTV. Instances of non-functioning or lack of equipment and knowledge by police on duty to use them were cited.

Police are not professional in their investigations and must respond to all calls and letters to them.

There is abuse of authority (especially against foreign workers) and corruption.

Police cannot have pride in their jobs when basic facilities such as writing paper is not available and dirty toilets, etc, were apparent in police stations.

There were a number of reports of bad experiences in the report lodging process at police stations and subsequent follow-through, or lack of, afterwards.

Community action

The Subang Jaya residents association representative gave an interesting account of their approach which involved two main parts:

a. Information sharing through use of SMS (with 3,500 numbers) and their website alert to inform the residents of incidents and their whereabouts;

b. Relationship building with the police and Subang Jaya Municipal Council through meetings and small 'makan-makan' to build up rapport with them.

He gave instances of their success, eg, useful statistics or a crime index was developed as a result and during the last 'balik kampung' exodus, only two houses were broken into.

A number of speakers spoke of their difficulty to set up 'gated' areas due to local council objections and requested some exemptions for this from them.

A speaker from Semenyih spoke of his difficulties to obtain approval for a RT scheme in his area due to another set up close by. The latter eventually fell through and he still does not have his RT scheme approval.

General comments

The meeting was a good idea but more thought is required on the meeting format and time required. The hearing was for the whole Klang Valley so why choose a weekday night and give only such short notice? Even the start time of the meeting was in dispute. After criticism from a speaker on the bad examples set by MPs in Parliament and even the caucus on starting late at 8.30 pm, the MC stated that that was the time announced in the press. All the announcements which I have seen and subsequently rechecked stated an 8pm start time.

Are these meetings a knee-jerk reaction to recent events in Johor Baru? Probably so, but the citizens did their job well in the time available. However, the many good suggestions and comments appeared to be in a vacuum with no echoes or reactions which was pretty frustrating. The police were also not present to comment.

What goodwill all the meetings (JB, PJ, Bukit Mertajam) be? Hopefully some of the shortcomings in the meeting format can be sorted out. Greater publicity should be given to the work of the caucus (i.e. allow the press in) and requests for more written submissions made in the next few weeks so that there will be a final public report (no deadline set?) with strong recommendations and action taken.

All of us hope so for the good of our beloved country. The caucus' report must not turn out to be treated like the Royal Police Commission's proposal on the IPCMC.