DAP is not politicising the death  of Dr. Tai Eng Teck but wants it to be the last senseless killing of innocent Malaysians by trigger-happy police

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Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang 

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Let me tell PBPM President, Mansur Md Jaafar that he is wrong when he alleged that the DAP is politicising the issue of the shooting death of Dr. Tai.

The DAP is not politicising the death of Dr. Tai but wants it to be the last senseless killing of innocent Malaysians by trigger-happy police.

I regret that the  Ex-Police Association of Malaysia did not realise the importance of improving the battered image of the police and restore public confidence in the police as the friend and protector of the people by rooting out "black sheep" in the police force, in particular the image of a trigger-happy police.

The Ex-Police Association of Malaysia should realise that Malaysians of all races have fallen victims of trigger-happy policemen, as apart from the case of Dr. Tai Eng Teck, the following trigger-happy killings by police are still waiting for a satisfactory accounting by the police leadership:
 

• The incident on Oct. 2 last year where the police shot dead five suspected kidnappers, including an eight-month pregnant woman N. Selvamalar, 31, at Taman Sungai Besi Indah in Kuala Lumpur after a RM3 million ransom was paid for the release of the 11-year-old son of former Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib.
• The  shoot-out in Tumpat on Oct. 3 last year in which six men, including an MIC division youth chief,  were shot dead.
• The fatal police shooting of a Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) teller,  Mohd Zailani Mohd Salleh,  33, on January 8, 1999 who was mistaken by the police as one of the four bank robbers.

The time has come for the establishment of new principles of police accountability and this is why I had suggested that the police should pay an instant RM500,000 ex-gratia compensation to all victims of trigger-happy police, whether in the case of Dr. Tai Eng Teck, N. Selvamlar or Mohd. Zailani Mohd. Salleh, on two conditions:

1. That the ex-gratia payment does not tantamount to a legal admission of guilt by the police; and
 
2. That it does not preclude the family of the victim of trigger-happy police shooting from claiming full compensation in the civil courts.

I am disapointed that my proposal that MCA Ministers raise Dr. Tai’s case  in Cabinet on Wednesday, not only for a RM500,000 police ex-gratia compensation but for  a Royal Commission of Inquiry to restore public confidence in the police as the friend and protector of the people and end all senseless killing of the innocent public by trigger-happy police, has fallen on deaf ears.

Instead, MCA leaders are going around claiming that the public outrage felt by Malaysians at the death of Dr. Tai had abated following the swift police action to charge the policeman involved in court.

I have no doubt that if a public opinion poll is conducted, the overwhelming majority of Malaysians of all races will express their dissatisfaction  at the failure of both the police leadership  and the Cabinet to take bold actions to ensure that Dr. Tai will be the last victim of senseless police trigger-happy mentality.

Actions which the police leadership and the Cabinet must take to ensure that Dr. Tai will be the last case of senseless police trigger-happy killing include the police ex-gratia compensation of RM500,000 to Dr. Tai and other victims of trigger-happy police shooting-deaths and a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Police to investigate
 

• the senseless and tragic shooting-death of Dr. Tai Eng Teck;
• the killing of some 640 people in the past ten years as a result of police shoot-outs to determine  the number of innocent people who were involved;
• the killing of 17 policemen in line of duty since 1995;
• review of police procedures and regulations on policemen carrying firearms;
• fair and just compensation to police personnel who are injured or lost their lives in line of duty;
• revision of police salaries and working conditions in order to improve the quality of the police force,  as for instance immediately  raising pay of police constables from  RM600 to RM750 a month.