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DAP to move motion of urgent, definite public importance in Parliament on Monday to  pay tribute to Rosli Mohd Said for his public spiritedness and establish a Rosli Award in his memory to honour  members of public for their contribution to roll back the crime wave
 


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Petaling Jaya, Friday): I have today given notice to the Speaker, Tun Mohamed Zahir Ismail to move a motion of urgent definite public importance when Parliament reconvenes on Monday to pay tribute to van-driver Rosli Mohd Said, 36, for his public-spiritedness and sacrificing his life when he tried to catch a snatch-thief in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and to establish a Rosli Award in his memory to honour members of the public for their contribution in rolling back the crime wave in the country. 

My motion stressed that three deaths from snatch-thefts in the past five weeks – as compared to an average one death a year  from snatch-thefts in the past five years - should be the final wake-up call for Parliament, the Cabinet, the Police and the entire civil society to declare a genuine all-out war against the double rise in the crime rate and the fear of crime among Malaysians, who have lost the fundamental rights of personal safety and community security and who  no longer feel safe whether for themselves or their loved ones whether in the streets, public places or even in the privacy of their homes. 

Parliament, the Cabinet, the Police and the civil society should ensure that the three fatal victims of snatch thefts in the past five weeks, Chin Wai Fung, 38 in Kuala Lumpur on  May 22; Chong Fee Cheng, 37 in Johore Baru  on June 12 and Rosli Mohd Saad, 36 in Kuala Lumpur on June 29 should not die in vain and that there should not be another death from snatch thefts – whether as victims or in the attempt to apprehend the snatch-thieves. 

Recent  news  items about the crime wave should abolish any doubt about the gravity of the escalating crime situation in the country, and why it warrants being given top priority when Parliament reconvenes next week, viz: 

  • The report that Maybank officer, Rashidan Mat Aris, 33, of Taman Desa Jaya, Kepong has not regained consciousness after suffering serious head injuries in a motor-cycle snatch theft near his home on Sunday evening;
  • A plainclothes policewoman in Malacca who fell victim two days ago   to two motor-cycle snatch thieves while on her way home after work, and lost RM1,900 and jewellery worth RM40,000 belonging to her family members.
  • The  cold-blooded killing of 91-year-old grandmother, Goh Ah Neh, by a thief in a house break-in in Malacca on the same day;
  • The complaint by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia that “of late, embassy officials worked until late nights to help the Saudi snatch theft victims”, and that in the past four years the embassy had received more than 50 complaints from Saudi snatch theft victims mostly in the Bukit Bintang area and that the police had not solved even one case so far.
  • The travel advisory issued by the Chinese foreign ministry warning its citizens to be on guard against the crime when travelling in Malaysia.
 

My motion called on Parliament, the Cabinet, the Police and the civil society to   restore  Malaysia to the Public Safety Index of the  pre-1990s when Malaysia was a comparatively safe country and when the nation’s leaders could  publicly mock and decry the serious crime situation in Western capitals like London and New York.  Today, New York and London are safer than Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya and Johore Baru.

Monday is an occasion for MPs from  all political parties to take an united and common stand to declare that “Enough is Enough” in the escalation of crime in our country since the past decade, and for a new national resolve and political will to be shown by Parliament and the Cabinet to roll back the crime wave in the country, to make the streets, public places and the privacy of homes safe again for citizens, visitors and tourists.

 

Parliament on Monday should begin a serious debate to ensure that Malaysia has a world-class police force  in efficiency, professionalism and productivity which could get the full co-operation of the citizenry to make crime a  minimal problem with the people enjoying  both personal safety and community security as before the 90s.

 

(2/7/2004)


* Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor & DAP National Chairman