Women parliamentarians today urged the police to declare war against crime following the abduction and gruesome murder of Canny Ong which stunned the nation.

"We do not want to differentiate whether we are from the government or opposition. We are united in urging the police to declare war against all crime," said their spokesperson Napsiah Omar (BN-Kuala Pilah) during a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

The MPs also issued a joint statement on the matter, signed by four opposition representatives and six Barisan Nasional parliamentarians.

Napsiah said the victims of rape, abduction and robbery were predominantly women.

"If these cases were not curbed immediately, all of us will become victims regardless of gender, race, religion and political belief," she said.

Directive welcomed

The parliamentarians also welcomed the government's directive to allocate more close circuit television cameras (CCTV) and employ security guards in parking areas and shopping complexes.

"This has been our call since years ago," said Napsiah, adding than women should also learn to protect themselves.

On June 13, Ong was abducted from the basement carpark of the Bangsar shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur.

Four days later police discovered the charred remains of the 28-year-old IT analyst who had returned from the United States to visit her sick father.

She was believed to have been raped and brutally murdered before her body was torched. The police have arrested a 27-year-old supervisor in connection with the case.

Motion rejected

At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) submitted an emergency motion to speaker Dr Mohamed Zahir to debate on crime cases.

However, her motion was rejected by deputy speaker Muhammad Abdullah this morning.

In a written reply to Chong, Mohamed Zahir said the motion was not urgent or specific. He said the police have solved the case and there was no need to debate further on the incident.

The opposition parliamentarian protested and asked for a clear explanation, but the deputy speaker told her to sit sown and added that a decision has been made.

In her motion, Chong cited a parliamentary reply from the Home Ministry to her which revealed that between 2002 to May this year, 149 police personnel were also victims of crime.

"This figure did not include one minister, seven deputy ministers, five MPs, five state executive councilors and nine state representatives who were also victims," she added.

Chong, who was also a victim of a snatch theft incident early this year, said later that she was disappointed by the rejection.

"From the joint press conference this morning, we know this motion is urgent and BN MPs have also voiced their concern. It was not an issue which was purportedly played up by the opposition," she added.

Cameras in the city

At another press conference held at the same venue, Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting said the government was deliberating on whether to fit CCTV in certain areas in the city.

He added that the main areas would be pedestrian walkways and underground tunnels but was uncertain about the number of cameras that would be used.

The minister said the cabinet meeting yesterday decided to issue a directive to all shopping complexes to beef up security in their premises but no special allowances would be given.

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