Over the weekend, I read a statement made by our acting PM (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) with a great degree of discomfort. When responding to reporters at a function for the disabled recently,

he was asked o­n the rising crime rate in the country.

The reporters wanted to know whether the police can cope with this sudden rise in serious crimes. His answer was that the police are coping well, and if they are not, then the crime rate would even be higher!

It gives me the shivers to hear the acting PM himself saying this, because, if this situation shows

that the police are "coping well", then what are we to expect for the future?

On the detention of the Indian IT workers in Brickfields recently, Abdullah nonchalantly replied that it was "a normal raid" and the police were investigating. Imagine what happens when such comments go to the foreign press.

It would imply that such actions - dragging people out of their beds, making them squat and do push-ups, denying them access to their high commissioner, defacing their passports and verbally abusing them - are "normal" by our Malaysian standards.

Pak Lah, I do want you to do well in your new post. But please do take care when you make statements like that because you are now the acting PM and every word that comes out from you will be taken seriously and published all over the world.