By Stephen Ng
THE current Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador has broken his silence on what most of us already know – the dark economy that exists, not only in Malaysia, but in every country around the world.
It takes great courage to expose truth like this and no other senior officers below him would be brave enough to stand up for the truth.
Short of naming the former IGP, it did not take us too long to guess who this former IGP whom Hamid had mentioned in passing at his press conference.
It appears to me that Hamid is not trying to throw the book at his former superior unless something untoward happens.
To his credit, Hamid is one IGP who has stood up for his principles. It takes a lot of guts to do what he did and for this reason (or at least based on my own observations), he deserves our utmost respect as a man in blue.
In fact, I have been observing this IGP since the time he was removed from his position as deputy director (I) of the Special Branch. Just after he was transferred to the Prime Minister’s department, supposedly to helm a newly-established ‘Security and Transnational’ division, he refused to clock in. He was subsequently removed together with the others, who were involved in the investigation of the 1MDB scandal.
It has gone on record that before he returned to the force, Hamid was driving his own lorry to transport vegetables from his own farm to the wet market. This speaks volume to an observer like me about the character of this current IGP.
For this reason, I appeal to the public as well as the rank and file within the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and retired police officers to give him full cooperation and support in his attempt to transform the police force into a respectable force at least in the region.
It has been far too long that the police force faces a trust deficit amongst the civilians and immigrants, whether documented or undocumented. This has been eroded by the bad apples within the force.
We need people like Hamid to restore people’s confidence in the police force and ensure that they are capable of carrying out their duties professionally without undue pressure from any politicians or former IGPs.
It takes more than one man and his term of office to make any significant change; therefore, the rakyat should not be disappointed like what they were with the Pakatan Harapan government which only had 22 months in Putrajaya.
Should any untoward incident happen to Abdul Hamid, the public must rise and demand to know who is behind it. Perhaps, by then, if a Royal Commission of Inquiry is not called now, it should be called at a later date to get to the bottom of things.
We cannot remain silent anymore, especially when we have a man like Hamid, who has staked his own self-interests to stand up for what he believes to be right. Hamid deserves every ounce of respect from civilians and the rank and file within the force.
As Malay language daily newspaper Sinar Harian has eloquently put it on its frontpage, “Era senyap sudah berlalu” (Blue code of silence is now over), thus, as members of the public, we cannot continue to be hypocrites who only know how to complain in chat groups about police corruption but remain reticent when we have to speak up on behalf of people like Hamid.
Our wish to see a transformed police force must be heard loud and clear. For those who choose to continue with the status quo, they ought not to complain anymore.
Be it Perikatan Nasional, Barisan Nasional, Muafakat Nasional or Pakatan Harapan, they are all responsible to the rakyat who elected them.
Many people, who share my sentiments that there have been too many injustices done to the civil society that demands an explanation, should now prick up their ears and open their eyes when they read the news.
This is the only way that we can play our role as responsible citizens in nation building instead of only taking care of our own interests, and allow people like Hamid to fight the battle alone.
If any of us claim to be pious here and we believe in God, we should remember our good cops in our daily prayers.
Recently, the Johor police had arrested several policemen who were linked to a drug syndicate. Another report highlighted that a Datuk Seri believed to be linked to money laundering has also been arrested in Puchong and investigated under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2001 and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA).
These arrests may have some links to what Hamid said in his press conference. Let’s continue to watch what unfolds before us. – March 23, 2021
Stephen Ng is from Kuala Lumpur.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
