MGG Pillai's column on the state of today's police force is startlingly concise. While he presents the example of police apathy in the form and shape of the doctor's experience, there are thousands of other Malaysians who grapple daily with the relevance of the police force in our modern society.

The traffic police is nothing more than a force of outriders, rudely stopping traffic and gesturing angrily at ordinary Malaysians to stop their vehicles so that a politician may arrive at his destination five minutes earlier (one wonders if both parties realise who pays their salaries).

The men in dark blue are at best extortionists when they mount their midnight roadblocks, trigger-happy when they fire rounds into the vehicles of suspected criminals, unruly when they pair up with their friends from Rela to ogle at women passing by or downright thugs when at opposition gatherings, intimidating political enemies and members of the press.

The Malaysian police force has lost its moral high ground amongst the masses. They are seen as slavish ghouls to the political kingpins of Malaysia. While violent crimes continue to rise, the police are more content cracking down on VCD peddlers and political prisoners.

When I was growing up, the sight of a policeman was perhaps the most reassuring in the world. Today, the opposite is truer.