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WHEN, many many moons ago, the then Singapore Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, allegedly described Johor Baru as a murder capital, Malaysians erupted in anger.
Today, Mr Lee is no longer the PM. But as Minister Mentor, he is still very influential. Johor Baru, however, continues to have its fair share of murder and mayhem. The distinction of being the murder capital of Malaysia has to be Kuala Lumpur. (If I am wrong, I hope Pemandu Chief, Idris Jala, or his aides will enlighten us.)
But it's not murder and mayhem per se that I would like to talk about. Instead I would like to guess and speculate on the reasons why crime is so utterly rampant in our beloved Malaysia in these last few years.
The influx of immigrants – legal and illegal – is one. From media reports, it's clear that criminal elements in the immigrant community are not only preying on Malaysians, they also prey on their own kind.
The other is our desperation to attract foreign tourists and students to our "Malaysia truly Asia" that we inadvertently allowed in African and Persian drug smugglers, Nigerian black money operators, Chinese prostitutes and whatever else were care to mention.
While official and private purveyors of tourism and private education are proud of their achievements, our beloved Malaysia has become the haven for international misfits and miscreants.
Add to this is the lackadaisical attitude, abuse of power and corruption among members of the law enforcement agencies and not to mention the apparent lack of leadership in the realm of law and order – too many "amaran" and not enough "tindakan" – (too many warnings and not enough actions).
The society is also to be blamed. The mata-mata (policemen and women) have to reason to shoot our teenage sons and daughters if they are at home sleeping or doing home work at 2am.
But you give the mata-mata the reason to draw his guns when your teenage sons or daughters, who are below the legal driving age, "stole" your cars, went on a joyride and drove like demons upon seeing the mata-mata in patrol cars.
Look, your failed to raise your sons and daughters to be respectful, law abiding young men and women and you want the whole world to sympathise with you when they got shot by the mata-mata.
Maybe we should all pause and asked the question: What will these lawbreaking, disrespectful teenagers become when they grow up?
Would they become doctors and engineers, teachers and philosophers if as teenagers they would rather "stole" your cars at midnight and went for the tarik with their friends when they should be at home sleeping or studying?
They are more like to end up being mata-mata (no disrespected intended), illegal racers, drug addicts, small time hoods and felons.
And finally, crime rate is on the rise because, thanks to the abolition of the Emergency Ordinance, the Banishment Act and the ISA, many true criminals have found themselves back in society to kill each other and to inflict harm on law-abiding citizens.
Bernama reported on Dec. 6 that an unidentified gunman wearing a ski mask shot dead a scrap metal trader, identified as M. Siva Murugesan, 32, at a stall in Batu Caves, Gombak.
Gombak Police deputy chief Supt Rosly Hassan said the Murugesan of Kampung Wira Damai, Jalan Sri Gombak, Selangor was having a drink with a friend when a tall dark man wearing a blue pair of jeans, a white T-shirt with blue stripes and a ski mask, walked up to him at 12.30 am and fired three shots.
So, who are we to blame for this sad, frightening state of affair? It has a lot do with our own lack of thinking power or laziness to think, our gullibility and our craze for money. So, Malaysia is not only truly Asia but is fast becoming its crime capital too. Pardon me for my desperation and exasperation. Wallahualam.
