The long awaited Royal Police Commission report must have raised a few eyebrows with its account of entrenched corruption and abuse of power amongst our men in blue. The Inspector-General of Police should be commended for accepting the report and it is now up to him to act on it to improve the image of the police force.

Hopefully, the police top brass will now accordingly get rid of the black sheep within the force who have tarnished its image. Top officers who have resigned, retired or about to retire should be held accountable for their misdeeds and justice should be meted out to them as a lesson for others not to abuse their power while in office.

The recommendations of the commission to improve the salary and perks of our police rank and file should be implemented immediately in order for them not to compromise their integrity by accepting ill-gotten money to pay their bills.

While the public has to admit that our police force has done a good job in keeping the peace and harmony, their service level can be enhanced better if the etiquette of their terms of service are adhered to religiously.

A disturbing revelation of the commission's report was on the corruption and abuse of power by top guns in the force who deal with lucrative contracts and abuse the process for personal gain. To paraphrase a former cabinet minister, a rotten fish will rot from the head first so if the police top brass is not clean, how can we expect the lower rungs to be not to on the take too?

No religion in the world condones corruption and most Muslims are aware of the saying of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., 'Condemn those who receive bribes and give bribes ... they are cursed by the Almighty and their souls will burn in hell for their misdeeds in this world'.

Corruption in any form, be it in the public or private sector will not do if we want to be a modern and civilised society. The scourge needs to be addressed now to stop it form becoming a norm of society.