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Only a weak gov't needs preventive detention
Published:  Aug 5, 2013 8:55 AM
Updated: 4:09 AM

YOURSAY ‘Such laws have been employed in dubious ways in various parts of the world to silence voices raised against the gov't and are a sign it is incapable of reason or debate.'

Wanita Umno, Youth at odds over preventive detention

your say Holden: Preventive detention has been employed in dubious ways in various parts of the world to effectively silence voices raised against the government. This is a classic sign of the weak leadership our country has had for the longest time.

Such laws are signs the government is incapable of reason or debate. In Malaysia, it has been used to carry on the proud tradition of silencing the messenger or the person who raises questions regarding wrongdoing, among other things.

Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and Umno need to join the 21st century ways of governing if they are to understand how much they have distanced themselves from the rakyat through such repressive third world means of running the country.

Homesick: Certain quarters of the Umno party are in favour of detention without trial, not because they want to fight crime but to oppress the opposition. The likes of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng can be put behind bars at their whims if this Gestapo law is brought back to life.

Versey: I suppose Sharizat has either absolutely lost confidence in the capabilities of our police in solving crimes, urging the return of Emergency Ordinance (EO) as a demeaning suggestion to shame our police.

Or as what someone suggested - that she wants the EO back to safeguard cases like NFC, so that people (non-Umno/Perkasa/Utusan Malaysia members) will be arrested for making reports that is to their disadvantage?

As far as this EO issue is concerned, my guess is that all right minded Malaysians, indeed all decent human beings, will give the thumbs up to Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin for his sensible reasoning and suggestions.

Maybe he should be given the opportunity to be the home minister for a certain timeframe to see how he can transform our police to an acceptable standard, at least comparable, if not better, than our neighbour down south.

Heavywater: One Umno leader is in the cabinet, the other is trying to save her position in the coming party election. So as long as they can secure their positions, they will say and do anything. They have nothing to lose but their position.

Their reputation is gone - so is their dignity. While tainted, they still want to hold on to their posts trying very hard to convince their party members that they can, and are, doing good for their party. But are they?

Kingfisher: Having diminished Wanita Umno's reputation due to the scandal of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) cow project's alleged misappropriation of funds, which involved some of her family members, it is amusing to hear Shahrizat comment on crime prevention.

Khairy, on the other hand, does have some credibility still, despite his organisation being increasingly perceived as self-indulgent and no longer progressive in promoting a vibrant and peaceful nation.

FAIR AND JUST: Preventive detention opens the door to political exploitation. Was not the Act initially put together to contain communist terrorist activities, but eventually extended to incarcerate political opponents despite the assurances given at the time of its enactment?

Doesn't the Sedition Act of today seem to be applied almost exclusively to political opponents while the likes of Perkasa leaders Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Nordin and the pro-Umno Utusan Malaysia and even a senior retired judge, preach and push their divisive agenda?

Fairness: From observations I can hardly see any policeman on patrol except for the occasional patrol cars passing by or traffic policemen stopping cars round the corner.

I have also often seen patrol cars with policemen dozing off inside, parked at hidden corners while they are supposed to be on duty. The reason given for not having more policemen is ‘insufficient budget'.

However, I also read in the press that 60 percent of the police force is on desk jobs. Why is this so? With modern technology, computers can easily take over the routine administrative duties.

It is high time the government acts to restructure police organisation to deploy more personnel to be on patrol duty without requiring a higher budget.

In addition the bloated civil service has about 1.5 million government servants, half of which are relatively unproductive. Why not deploy and retrain a fraction of them to be policemen and put them on patrol duty - again at no additional cost as they are already on the government payroll?

Smyee: It doesn't really matter what she says. Shahrizat is irrelevant; in fact Umno is irrelevant, MCA is irrelevant, MIC is defunct, and BN is sinking.

Rakyatfirst: Khairy, I support your view. I think something needs to be done to beef up the capability and professionalism of our police. Go talk to the people on the street, eight out of 10 will say that they have no confidence in our police.

Sad isn't it? I know there are many good policemen there but the force on the whole has lost the confidence of the people.

Clever voter: Whatever position Umno takes, the public will be totally indifferent. The reason has been, and still is, the selective enforcement of the law. Such a discriminatory practice is not likely to disappear as long as there are vested interests.

Malaysian 001: This is the basic difference between a Wanita leader who needs to satisfy the right wing of the party to have a glimmer of hope for any success, and a youth leader who may not have any challengers.

The fact that Shahrizat is clinging to straws to stay above water speaks of the pathetic state of her party and the Wanita wing.

EvenSteven: During the colonial days, as kids we did not fear the police but respected them. Mind you this was when the communist insurgency was at its height. The local inspectors were above par and well disciplined, as were the constables.

Just about every race in the country was represented in the force and meritocracy was the order of the day. You didn't get very far in the force if you were not up to the mark. Check with ex-IGP Mohd Haniff Omar and he'll tell you what I say is true.

Today the force is a far cry from the one of yore. Just read the news both online and the mainstream media and you'll see what I mean.

Anonymous_4031: If you cannot provide solid evidence that an accused is a security risk, not a political risk to a politician, then you have failed miserably.

Be a man and show it in open court. Don't hide under the sarong of the Internal Security Act or some other draconian law to punish a person.

Be a person of honour and integrity. A leader will always be remembered for honesty, integrity and honour. A leader who abuses power will be condemned even after he is dead and buried.

Those who wish to cling onto power may abuse their power to lock up politicians. But it is not right; it is very shameful.

Vijay47: One of the psychological methods employed by any police force is the old "good cop, bad cop" trick. But good old Khairy seems to have refined this strategy to an art, and he himself plays both roles.

Once in a blue moon, he will come out with an intelligent statement and the rest of the time, continue to be a typical Umno patient.

However, I must confess that on his latest stand, I must agree with him. Malaysia does not need a single new law; we have laws aplenty, enough for perhaps another of our famous world records.

What is sorely lacking is enforcement. Just one example - do we need another law on corruption? If only our existing laws were properly applied, our prisons would be full of white-haired men.


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