Smiling and wearing badges with the tagline Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita (Courtesy is our Culture) isn't enough to change the image of the police force in the eyes of the public.

This was the opinion expressed by Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng who said that "if the IGP is sincere in wanting to restore the police's image, he should support the implementation of the IPCMC".

He thinks that these steps will be more fruitful in changing the public's perception of the force.

Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement Secretary of Administration Lee Huat Seng also made a similar point.

"Basically, we think that image is portrayed by attitude and system. In terms of attitude, the police can be re-educated on human rights and their power limitations. As for system, the police should adopt the IPCMC," he said.

Last Friday, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Dr Rais Yatim launched the Mesra dan Senyum (Be Friendly and Smile) campaign at the Petaling Jaya police station.

Musa wants his men to smile

The campaign was launched in effort to encourage police officials to smile when dealing with the public.

Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan was reported as saying that disciplinary action will be taken against those who failed to comply.

Some see this campaign as part of efforts to revamp the image of Malaysia's 80,000-strong police force, which has been marred by rising numbers of deaths of detainees in police custody, violent tactics with suspects, corruption, abuse of power and inefficiency.

Various civil society groups have been calling for the setup of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) proposed by the Royal Police Commission.

In November 2006, a group representing a coalition of some 300 NGOs handed a list of endorsements of the IPCMC to the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya.