I totally agree with Abakjr when he says that the number of police personnel is totally inadequate and that they are paid peanuts. At the risk of being accused of oversimplifying the problem, I would recommend that their salaries be raised by a substantial margin, in order to create motivation, and perhaps reduce widespread corruption.

Compared to army personnel, the police are getting the raw side of the bargain, even though they are on duty for 24 hours a day. I wonder what army personnel do on a daily basis now that we are not at war with anybody.

However, I suspect that some sections of the police force are not utilised for what it is created to perform. For example, it is quite common for Umno members to make use of the special branch for information on where they stand vis-a-vis their opponents. In fact, much of the information on opposition parties are gathered not by party members, but by government agencies.

I have no quarrel with the existence of the special branch, because special security problems need covert and secret operations that only the special branch can perform. The only thing is that they are being misused and abused all along.

The Inspector-General of Police is too weak to refuse and he is not independent like his peers in other countries. Another aspect of policing is to have good rapport and cooperation with the public. But if the police is seen by a large section of the public as being partial, then they will not get help from that public.

There are millions of non-Barisan Nasional supporters in the country, and if the police are to make them their enemies, then it is not only they who will suffer. The police, and the whole country too will pay, in the long run.

Having retired now, how I wish that I will live to see the day that the police will be what the police should be, ie professional, independent, impartial, fair and accepted by all levels of society.