I write this in response to Rakan Abakjr and Abakjr 's letters defending the police force touching much on their 'kacang putih' salaries and supposedly various responsibilities they have to go through daily.

I've had a first hand opportunity to see what working for the government is like. Both my sister and father are civil servants. They too have ' kacang putih ' salaries like the police force. The hours were long and there was no such thing as overtime pay. After more than 20 years of slogging for the government, what did my father gain from the government? A measly pension that doesn't even equal to half of today's private sector pay.

But not a day have I heard my father or sister complain about the pay that they received, their working conditions or the people they have to put up with. Sure the pay is low, the prospects are hardly there especially when you are a non-bumi. It's a fact when you are a non-bumi, the chances of you getting promoted in a civil service is like searching for a needle in a hay stack. I should know, my father waited for more than 20 years.

So don't go and tell me your ' kacang putih ' stories, because I was born and bred on them. My father and sister certainly didn't slack in their responsibilities so why should the police be any different.

Monetary inadequacies certainly don't make people perform 120 percent but they shouldn't be below their 100 percent mark.

At the end of the day if you don't like the job, don't do it! I don't see a leash tied to any police personnel. So please don't tell me that the police have it hard because I don't believe one word of it.

Not especially when I still see officers wearing more gold than they can carry and drive cars that no law abiding civil servant can ever afford. On that note about cars, my father still drives an old 1970 Mazda junk.

And yes, about that point that police only provide 'general security coverage' - I'm sure the people in Subang Jaya can sleep well tonight because for every 10,000 residents, they would have at least one police officer to protect them