I could not agree more with the author and wish to highlight some points about the police force in Malaysia.
There is an ulterior motive in the government’s frugality in raising the salary of police officers. It is a conscious decision on the part of the government to keep some officers on the brink of poverty.
It is similar to a strategy of keeping the majority of the population at a despicably low poverty level where a mere RM50 can buy the government another five years’ of power. The force is likewise compelled to resort to ‘taxing’ the public by way of the Sheriff of Nottingham. The problem is endemic. Eventually the whole force is plagued with this disease and everyone becomes a partner in crime.
As far as the level of education of police officers is concerned, I think there is a conspiracy to keep the bulk of the force just above acceptable levels. This, coupled with a strict order to follow the orders of superiors, ensures that the lid is tightly sealed.
The very few at the upper echelons of power with some grey matter but lacking in conscience, lead the ignorant lot. Is it a surprise then that we end up with a force from the ‘dark side’?
The Special Branch of the force is the propaganda machine. The government of the day wages a constant war against the opposition. There are many generals within this massive unit whose main role is to win the war against the opposition. They make Sun Tzu look like a novice.
Blatant lies and deceptions are contrived and a majority of the force swallows official versions of events without any question. People at large buy the government’s version of events, having been duped by state-controlled media.
We became a police state a long time ago. The majority of the population does not even realise this. They do not even comprehend what being a police state means.
However, all the propaganda and the policy of having a ‘single version of events’ no longer work in this information age, hence the current awakening! The advent of internet satisfies people’s hunger for an alternative point of view, having been bombarded with only one-sided stories for most of their lives.
The time has come for us to change the state of the police to discard the police state. Let us be nothing but a civil society.
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