There is nothing unusual about police personnel who carried firearms as they kept watch over a group of next-of-kin of MH370 victims yesterday, explained Putrajaya OCPD Abdul Razak Abdul Majid.

 

“We carry pistols while on duty... it is part of our uniform, our uniform is like that,” he told Malaysiakini last night.

 

About eight next-of-kin from China were waiting outside the Ministry of Transport’s headquarters in Putrajaya at 4pm yesterday hoping to meet its minister Liow Tiong Lai.

 

They expressed dismay when they were greeted by the sight of several police personnel carrying pistols in their holsters.

 

One of them also had a sub-machinegun slung over his shoulder.

 

“We just came to get a response (from Liow),” lamented one of the relatives Li Hwa, who came to Malaysia to seek answers.

Tomorrow is the first-year anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) MH370 flight which left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

To date, they have failed to secure an appointment with Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.

PSB police don't carry guns

 

Unlike Malaysia where most police work is done by a single entity, policing in China is conducted mainly by two separate agencies - the Public Security Bureau (PSB) and the People’s Armed Police (PAP).

 

The larger of the two, the PSB, rarely carry firearms when on patrol although they may still carry other weapons such as batons.

 

In contrast, the smaller PAP routinely carries firearms, but is rarely called upon to handle petty crimes.

 

This long-standing policy is only starting to change in the middle of last year, according to a Wall Street Journal report, after an inadequate PSB response allowed a knife massacre at a busy train station to proceed almost unimpeded for 40 minutes, when armed police finally showed up and shot dead four of the assailants.

 

In that incident, 29 people were killed by a group of 10 attackers believed to be Uighur separatists.