Khamis, 13 Jun 2013

Philosophy Politics Economics

Philosophy Politics Economics

Lawlessness Descends onto Klang Valley?

Posted: 13 Jun 2013 05:59 PM PDT

Has the Klang Valley descended into a state of lawlessness with near nightly incidence of audacious robberies in public areas?  Or is this still an issue of "perception"?

I had written on Tuesday, 11 June with regards to the audacious robberies being carried out in the Klang Valley.  Last Saturday, nearly 70 people were robbed at an open air steamboat restaurant in Cheras by a group of 10 persons armed with parangs and iron rods.  The shop owners and patrons lost more than RM20,000 and at least 2 of the customers were assaulted as a result of being too tardy with coughing up with their valuables.

Now over the past 2 nights, there were 2 incidences of armed gang robberies carried out at open air restaurants in Kepong, Cheras and Kajang on each night.  This was despite 3 suspects being picked up by the Police yesterday afternoon on the prior cases.

In fact, it was reported that the Police have received four reports on such cases in Kuala Lumpur and another in Petaling Jaya in the past two weeks.

The Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib Razak himself promised Malaysias a "war against crime" on Saturday when launching the "United Against Crime" programme with much fanfare. The newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar proudly announced on his appointment date on May 16th that he wants to make safety and security his priority and "return" the streets to the people.  But where is this "war against crime"?

It is as if these armed criminals were thumbing their noses at the Prime Minister and the Royal Malaysian Police pouring scorn on the ineffective threats issued by the latter.

In fact the situation got so ridiculous last night that these gang of 8 to 10 armed robbers can rob 2 eateries and then proceeded to enjoy and binge themselves at a local pub, following which they refused to pay and robbed the pub cashier as well!

If the Prime Minister and the new IGP is serious about this "war against crime", they must implement the key recommendations of the 2005 Royal Commission of Inquiry recommendations for the Royal Malaysian Police.

This includes firstly the refusal by the BN Government to implement the key recommendation of the RCI report, that is the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).  The IPCMC is "aimed at dealing with complaints regarding the police, and seeking to improve the professionalism of the police force and to make certain that doctrines, laws, rules and procedures are observed and applied by the police".

The second key recommendation by the RCI, and perhaps more immediately effective, is the refusal of the Police to restructure the Police organisation to be more focused in fighting crime.

Over the past 8 years, the criminal investigation department (CID) comprises barely 9% of the police force, unchanged from before. In stark contrast, 41% of uniformed police perform management functions, while 31% are tasked with internal security and public order such as the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), the Light Strike Force as well as the General Operations Force.

In fact the Budget figures in 2010 showed that the police produced 733,237 reports and security checks by the Special Branch, but only 211,645 criminal investigation papers. So Special Branch produced more than three times as many reports as the CID.  This is consistent with the fact that the new IGP seems more preoccupied in a war against civil society activists and Pakatan Rakyat leaders under the Peaceful Assembly and Sedition Acts to clamp down on anti-BN dissent, as opposed to putting up a "real" war against crime.

The 2005 RCI Report has recommended about 20,000 uniformed personnel or 22% of the force could be reassigned to go back to active core policing work. Unfortunately this recommendation has gone unheeded by the Home Ministry.

We hope that under the new Home Minister, Dato' Seri Zahid Hamidi, the Government will no longer deem the severity of the crime issue being a matter of "public perception".  Rampant crime is real, Malaysians do not feel safe and the only perception of crime that needs to change is that belonging to the Government.

IPCMC & EAIC: Who Twisted?

Posted: 12 Jun 2013 09:51 PM PDT


Two days ago, I had written that Datuk Paul Low is sorely mistaken that the difference between EAIC and IPCMC is just in the name.  The difference between the two is clearly in their intent, with the former set up as a toothless tiger meant specifically as a cosmetic job to placate the public's demand for an IPCMC, while pandering to strident objections of the police force.  The IPCMC on the other hand, was clearly an agency to check, discipline and inculcate greater professionalism in the police force.

Datuk Paul Low had pleaded victimisation immediately on 10th June, to express his "grave disappointment" at how his words have been "blatantly misrepresented for reasons best known only to Mr Tony Pua himself".

"I fail to see how much clearer I can make it understood ...IPCMC and EAIC are only names, and what really matters is that we arrive at an independent agency that has the resources, clout and scope of influence to do the job effectively, now that the weaknesses of the existing EAIC had been more or less identified… Whether the name remains 'EAIC' at the end of the day… 'EAICC', 'PEAIC', etc… does it really matter? …Clearly, even a teenager would be able to conclude that my intention was never to equate the EAIC in its current form to that of the IPCMC proposed by the RCI in 2005," he said.

So did I "blatantly misrepresent"  Paul Low's words or his intent and as a result maligned him unfairly?

Let me remind him in his own words stated just less than 2 weeks ago on 30th May in his press conference.  Datuk Paul Low has actually stated in his own words that the "EAIC is actually the IPCMC".  When asked if he meant that there was no need for an IPCMC with the existence of the EAIC by reporters, he specifically responded that "we already have the channel".

Now this "teenager's" question to him is, in the context of the above statements – did I misrepresent his words or did Datuk Paul Low twist his own words?

However, as pleaded by Datuk Paul Low himself, let me be constructive and give him the benefit of the doubt.

The point of my earlier statement was that the names of these institutions signifies and signals the intent of the Government.  And that is exactly the reason why the Government has stubbornly refused to set up an institution named "IPCMC".  Otherwise, if it is all "just a name", why not just change the Commission's name from EAIC to IPCMC, and claim the moral victory of delivering what the rakyat is "crying out for"?

The RCI 2005 has even drafted a proposed IPCMC legislation which was substantively rejected by the BN Government.  The EAIC was emasculated to become essentially a "post-office" to refer cases back to the affected institution's own disciplinary panels and committees, without any power to enforce punishment or recommendations on the guilty enforcement parties.

Datuk Paul Low has a simple position to take.  Incorporate all the recommendations made by the RCI proposal for the IPCMC into the EAIC, and Pakatan Rakyat will immediately concede that the EAIC can retain its name.  After all, to quote the Transparency Minister, it is "just a name".

EAIC Will Deserve Praise If It Does Its Job

Posted: 12 Jun 2013 01:49 AM PDT


Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) chairperson Datuk Seri Heliliah Mohd Yusof claims the opposition will never admit it if a government agency does a good job. Datuk Seri Heliliah said this in response to criticism from me that the EAIC was "designed to fail" from the onset.

"Will the opposition praise any government body despite it being set up with heartfelt sincerity?" she asked.

Let me declare upfront that I will be the first to praise the Government if the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) and bring to book all who are guilty of misconduct.  And this will certainly not be my first time doing so.

However, I'd like to ask the Chairperson of EAIC if she actually thinks that the Commission has delivered anywhere remotely close to what was promised?

In the past 3 years, the EAIC receive only a budget of RM7 million a year.  Today, it has only 1 investigating officer as part of a 23-man staff which include its clerks and drivers.

In terms of actual concrete actions taken since its formation in September 2011 and until the end of 2012, the EAIC had only recommended one disciplinary action and two warnings to civil servants.  In that sole case of disciplinary action, a complaint had been lodged against a police officer mid-last year for closing a case after three days.

Even in this relatively minor case of indiscipline, the EAIC CEO Nor Afizah Hanum Mokhtar admitted that she doesn't know if the recommended disciplinary action of a demotion has actually been carried out by the Police.  This is despite the fact that within the EAIC law, the Police is required by law to feedback to EAIC on the actions taken on specific complaints and recommendations.

The fact that the Government isn't serious, with only 1 investigating officer today to "look after" 19 government agencies. is proof of the intent for the entire exercise to fail.

The performance of EAIC is so dire, that Datuk Seri Helilah's former colleague, former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad had openly questioned the effectiveness of the EAIC.  Datuk Seri Helilah should perhaps be thankful that the 'opposition' hasn't been more harsh in their criticism of the EAIC, perhaps its Commissioners being accused even of "sleeping on the job".

Hence the opposition's "criticisms" of the EAIC are entirely valid and should not be summarily dismissed by the EAIC as the chairperson did.  In fact, I would challenge the former Court of Appeal Judge, Datuk Seri Helilah to state unequivocally if the EAIC has actually served its purposed and has successfully met its founding objectives.

Audacious Armed Gang Robberies Brings Crime To New Low

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:47 PM PDT


Nearly 70 people were robbed at an open air steamboat restaurant in Cheras in the early hours of Saturday morning by a group of 10 persons armed with parangs and iron rods.  The shop owners and patrons lost more than RM20,000 and at least 2 of the customers were assaulted as a result of being too tardy with coughing up with their valuables.

In fact, it was reported that the Police have received four reports on such cases in Kuala Lumpur and another in Petaling Jaya in the past two weeks.  I also know as a matter of fact that there has been many of these cases occuring in various parts of Petaling Jaya commercial centres over the past 6 months, but these shops are fearful of unwanted publicity which may result in reprisals from the armed robbers.

The sheer audacity of these robberies have plunged Malaysia's already bad crime situation to new depths.  We are not talking about an armed robbery of someone walking in a dark and isolated back street.  We are now seeing blatant armed robberies in crowded open restaurants.

As a result, the Royal Malaysian Police is being subjected to the triple crisis of confidence and credibility today.

Firstly the rise in crime and its aggressiveness has proven the Police failure in their most important task, that is to ensure that the man-on-the-street do not live in fear for their lives and property.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister Dato' Seri Najib Razak just launched the "United Against Crime" campaign claiming that the effort to fight crime is "a war which needs commitment and continuous support from all levels of society to create a safe surrounding for the people".

Bernama reported that in urging all strata of society to be united to combat crime, the Prime Minister called on the private sector, specifically owners of shopping centres, to upgrade the level of security at their premises such as installing more close circuit televisions and hiring more security guards.

While the above are supplementary acts which may help mitigate crime, the ultimate responsibility of fighting crime, such as these violent and outrageous open air restaurant robberies, can only be handled by the police.  The Prime Minister is surely not asking all Malaysians to stop eating outdoors, or all restaurants, big and small, to install CCTVs and hire security guards.  Or worse, that all Malaysians should stay at home in the evenings so that they will not be unfortunately robbed at eateries.

Secondly, the Police today are more interested in playing politics than fighting crime.  To quote the Member of Parliament for Lim Kit Siang, we now have the "most political IGP" in the nation's history.  Over the past month since Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar's appointment, Malaysians do not see any new real initiatives, breakthrough or success in the most important challenge of the police to make safety and security the top police priority.

Instead, we see the police under the IGP coming down hard on Pakatan Rakyat leaders and social activists, although public peace and order had not been undermined in any manner.  The IGP has instructed to police force to use and abuse the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Sedition Act to intimidate and clamp down on all political dissent.

And thirdly, after the 4th death in custody within 18 days under the watch of the new IGP, the professional reputation of the police force is in complete tatters.  The latest death involving a Japanese citizen in the lock up of USJ police station is also the 9th this year.  Essentially, this points to the fact that there has been no improvements at all since the recommendations made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the Royal Malaysian Police in 2008.

These triple crises of confidence and credibility of the Malaysian Police puts on the spotlight on the Barisan Nasional government's obstinate refusal to implement the key recommendation of the RCI report, that is the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).  The IPCMC is "aimed at dealing with complaints regarding the police, and seeking to improve the professionalism of the police force and to make certain that doctrines, laws, rules and procedures are observed and applied by the police".

The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the BN Government.  If BN would even dream of winning back support from the urban population in Malaysia in the next general election, then it must implement the IPCMC to prevent the further deterioration of the crime situation, the continued politicisation of the police force as the catspaw for BN and any additional loss of lives of those held in custody in the lock ups.

IPCMC and EAIC: More Than Just Names

Posted: 10 Jun 2013 09:44 PM PDT

In a statement related to a recent discussion Minister in Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Paul Low held with the MIC, several NGOs and with the cabinet on the matter, he said the 'IPCMC' and 'EAIC "are only names".

Therefore he said that a "revamped" and "beefed up" Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) is a better option than starting a fresh commission like the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

Datuk Paul Low is sorely mistaken that the difference between EAIC and IPCMC is just in the name.  The difference between the two is clearly in their intent, with the former set up as a toothless tiger meant specifically as a cosmetic job to placate the public's demand for an IPCMC, while pandering to strident objections of the police force.  An IPCMC as recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Royal Malaysian Police in 2005 was clearly an agency to check, discipline and inculcate greater professionalism in the police force.

Hence the former is specifically designed to fail the objectives of the latter. This has been proven over the past 3 years after the EAIC has been set up, where they receive only a budget of RM7 million a year.  Today, it has only 1 investigating officer as part of a 23-man staff which include its clerks and drivers.

Even former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad had questioned the effectiveness of the EAIC, which since its formation in September 2011 and until the end of 2012, had only recommended one disciplinary action and two warnings to civil servants.  In that sole case of disciplinary action, a complaint had been lodged against a police officer mid-last year for closing a case after three days.

Even in this relatively minor case of indiscipline, the EAIC CEO Nor Afizah Hanum Mokhtar admitted that she doesn't know if the recommended disciplinary action of a demotion has actually been carried out by the Police.

The fact that the Government isn't serious, with only 1 investigating officer today to "look after" 19 government agencies- the police force, the Immigration Department, the Customs Department, the Rela Corps, the National Anti-Drug Agency, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, the Department of Environment, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, the National Registration Department (NRD), the Department of Civil Aviation, the Road Transport Department (RTD), the Department of Industrial Relations, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, the Manpower Department, the Health Ministry (Enforcement), the Tourism Ministry (Enforcement and Licensing units), the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry (Enforcement) and the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government (Enforcement) – is proof of the intent for the entire exercise to fail.

Datuk Paul Low has added that "the cabinet more or less concluded that an extensive revamp and enlargement of the powers of the existing EAIC would be a better option than setting up a new IPCMC from scratch, as the latter would involve too much time to get up and running."  He said the three-year-old EAIC had taken two years to settle in due to "teething problems".

The abject failure of the EAIC is not due to "teething problems".  It was because the BN Government has designed for it to fail.

In reality, what it means is that Datuk Paul Low has become just a mere spokesman to convey decisions made by the Cabinet.  It appears that he has lost all convictions in all the recommendations he has made to the Government while he as the President of Transparency International, where he was personally insistent that
"The implementation of the watereddown Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to a Special Complaints Commission (SCC) indicates the inability of the government to regulate gatekeepers.  The IPCMC, which was the recommendation of the 2005 Royal Commission, was diluted after open revolt from the top brass of the Royal Malaysian Police."
It is disappointing that since appointed the Transparency Minister, Datuk Paul Low has now reversed his earlier position to argue that the Special Complaints Commission in the form of the EAIC is now sufficient to regulate the enforcement authorities, particularly the Police force.

Now with the latest death of a 33 year old Japanese citizen in police custody yesterday, allegedly by hanging himself, it is the 4th death in police custody in 14 days, or the 9th in 2013.  How many more deaths will it take for the Cabinet to be convinced that an effective check and balance system is desperately required to ensure and regulate the professionalism of the police, as well as to bring the all the rogues in the force to book.

Dr Mahathir Redefines Racism

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 09:34 PM PDT


The UMNO DDD brigade, exposed by Member of Parliament of Gelang Patah, Lim Kit Siang has continued their non-stop inflammatory propaganda to cast the DAP as a racist party.  The DDD brigade led by none other than former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamed has now claimed that the proof that DAP is a racist party is that the Chinese voters voted for them, and the Chinese turn out for the recent Pakatan Rakyat rallies are high.

This accusation must rank as among the biggest piece of gibberish coming from the 88 year old UMNO President.

When Malays vote overwhelmingly for UMNO in the past, it is never "racism".  When a 100% Malay crowd hold weekly protests against the Pakatan Rakyat government in Penang, it is not "racism".  When Chinese voted for MCA in the past, that can't be racism.  When Chinese also voted strongly for PAS and PKR in the current elections, PAS and PKR are not accused of racism.

When Malays increased their support for the DAP candidates in the same election, Dr Mahathir accused DAP of spreading "propaganda" that influenced educated Malays into perceiving the Barisan Nasional (BN) government as corrupt.

However, when the Chinese also voted strongly for DAP, that is proof of DAP "racism". When many Chinese turns up at Pakatan Rakyat events, that is beyond shadow of a doubt, Chinese "racism".  What type of senile perverted logic is that?

Dr Mahathir and his DDD brigade should perhaps look up the dictionary on the definition of "racism".  Racism is defined in Dictionary.com as "a belief… usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others" or "a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination".

By the above definition alone, it is proof that the real racists of this country are UMNO, Dr Mahathir and his DDD brigade.  In fact the multi-million ringgit DDD brigade has via influential blogs and the UMNO mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia completely rewrote the definition of "racism" to fit their own political objectives.  Their objectives are to brainwash Malays and Malaysians into believing "anti-racism" as "racism", and "racism" as their birthright.

Where else in the world can you find a party like UMNO which calls for "ketuanan Melayu" or supremacy of the Malays as its sole raison d'etre being able to dispel all notions of its racism?  While at the same time, DAP, a party that fights only for equality of opportunities, justice regardless of race and religion as well as for free and fair elections, being demonised as the most racist entity in the world.

Just because we support the doctrine of "ketuanan rakyat" or the supremacy of the people, and oppose the doctrine of the supremacy of any single race, UMNO has since the end of last year made DAP their biggest enemy to ensure the survival and continuation of their racist policies. The concerted non-stop onslaught by the DDD brigade led by Dr Mahathir, funded with hundreds of millions of ringgit is resulting in DAP facing the single biggest fight of our political history.  Their objective is nothing less than the total demise of the DAP whether via de-registration by the Registrar of Societies, the imprisonment and disqualification of our leaders via the abuse of Sedition Act and other draconian laws, and the total rejection by Malays and Malaysians of DAP as a "racist" party it is not.

The DAP will stand firm on our principles and fight all racist attacks from UMNO and Barisan Nasional.  The leaders will stand on our principles without fear or favour and are prepared to suffer all injustices meted out by the UMNO regime to ensure that our future Malaysian generations will not be trapped in the racist framework we endure today.

KLIA2 Scandal: Blame Game Commences

Posted: 05 Jun 2013 09:31 PM PDT

The explosive blame game between Malaysia Airports and its contractors on the delays at KLIA2 triggered by the exposes led by Pakatan Rakyat confirms incompetence and mischief at the highest levels

Finally after months of blatant denials, Malaysia Airports (MAHB) has finally conceded that the KLIA2 is severely delayed.  The current KLIA2 airport contract was scheduled to be completed by September 2011 but has been delayed at least 7 times since then.

MAHB however now claimed that the delays plaguing the completion of KLIA2 is the result of the non-delivery of parts of the project by contractors, leading Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to come out to say that it would impose liquidated and ascertained damages (LAD) on the responsible parties.

Unsurprisingly, the main contractors of the project all lined up to deny their complicity in the delays and placed the blame squarely on MAHB the project owner who allegedly made repeated variation orders to the original contract.

While we are not privy to the details of the dispute which is now triggering the blame game between the various parties, the question that needs to be asked is, after nearly 2 years of delay, why is it that MAHB is only coming out for the first time to blame the contractors?  If it is really the contractors who are at fault, why haven't they been penalised with the LAD since September 2011?

This KLIA2 scandal has been repeatedly raised both in and out of parliament by my colleague Nurul Izzah Anwar, the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai and myself over the past 18 months, but never was the issue of contractor non-performance ever raised as a response both by the Ministry of Transport or MAHB.

At the end of the day, the buck stops with MAHB as the project manager and owner and the entire top management of MAHB must bear full responsbility for embarrassment and fiasco.  It is ironical that the Chief Financial Officer for MAHB, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd's (MAHB) Faizal Mansor was named Best CFO for Investor Relations (Mid Cap category) by the Malaysian Investor Relations Association (MIRA), when it was under his watch that the cost of the airport has increased more than 100% from under RM2 billion to the "latest" estimate of RM4 billion.

This  drastic increase in cost has resulted in MAHB having to raise bonds amount to RM3.1 billion to date, with another RM1 billion expected to be raised in the near future, causing MAHB to take on debt which may not have been necessary in the first place.  However, the ultimate losers on the "low cost" airport which busted the budget will be the Malaysian travellers who will have to bear the cost of higher airport taxes for MAHB to repay its debts.  This will also severely impact Malaysia's competitiveness as the hub for low-cost carriers in the Asia region.

It has also been reported that the contract for current Managing Director of MAHB, Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad who has helmed the company for the past 9 years will be ending in June 2013, after having been extended last year.  It is clear that Tan Sri Bashir has failed to competently manage the single largest project by MAHB during his reign and his contract must not be renewed.  The failure and scandal of KLIA2 cannot be excused.

A competent successor must immediately be found to clean up the mess in MAHB to ensure that there are no further delays to the completion of the airport as well as capping the cost to taxpayers for the project.

Finally, it has been reported that there has been an independent report produced by KPMG over the KLIA2 project fiasco.  We call upon the Ministry of Transport to make public the report given the scale of the scandal and the public interest involved.  All those found guilty of negligence must be brought to book.  Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament will pursue this matter relentlessly until those who are responsible for this multibillion ringgit disaster is punished for their crimes.

Appeal to Paul Low: Support IPCMC

Posted: 03 Jun 2013 09:28 PM PDT


Datuk Paul Low has been a respected civil society leader at the forefront of preaching transparency and accountability while he served as the President of Transparency International Malaysian Chapter (TI-Malaysia).  His appointment to the Cabinet has hence raised expectations that Datuk Paul Low will continue his pursuit of reforming all necessary institutions to ensure that his causes while he was the TI Malaysia President will be realised the soonest possible.

It is hence heart-wrenching to see Datuk Paul Low repeatedly unwind the various positions after being appointed as a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, ostensibly to boost transparency and accountability in the BN administration.

He has given excuses why a Minister should not be required to make public declaration of assets on the basis that if a Minister's son with RM20 million of assets may have his safety compromised.  This was despite his earlier praise for the Penang and Selangor state governments for implementing public asset declarations for all its state executive councillors as a mark of transparency and accountability.

He has deflected criticisms of the lack of transparency in Petronas as reflected in the Revenue Governance Index (RGI) where Malaysia scored a weak 46 out of 100 marks, ranking us below countries like Azerbaijan and Indonesia.  Datuk Paul Low argued that Malaysia ranked poorly because of Petronas' non-disclosure agreements with foreign countries.  However, when it was pointed out to him that the RGI report pointed clearly to weaknesses in local disclosures, Datuk Paul Low gave a "no comment".

What was most disheartening however was Datuk Paul Low's refusal to endorse the Indepependent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).  He has earlier been reported to have said that there isn't a need for an IPCMC because there is already an Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC).  He then "backtracked"  from his comments 2 days later claiming he was merely pointing out an existing mechanism in the form of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) for death in custody victim N Dharmendran's family when asked on the need for the IPCMC.

Despite his supposed reversal, the fact remains that he has refused to endorse the IPCMC, giving the flimsiest of excuse that he "did not want to get into a tit-for-tat match over the matter".  In 2009 however, the then TI-Malaysia President has presented in the Global Corruption Report:

The implementation of the watereddown Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to a Special Complaints Commission (SCC) indicates the inability of the government to regulate gatekeepers.  The IPCMC, which was the recommendation of the 2005 Royal Commission, was diluted after open revolt from the top brass of the Royal Malaysian Police.

As of yesterday, there are now 3 deaths in Police custody over a period of just 11 days, and 7 in 2013 alone.  No one has been punished, and the Minister of Home Affairs, Dato' Seri Zahid Hamidi has refused to have the officers who are suspected of foul play suspended.  3 deaths in 11 days, 7 in 5 months are statistics which cannot be ignored.  Justice needs to be served and it cannot be served if there are no independent regulatory bodies to check the powers of the police force.

We appeal to the conscience of Datuk Paul Low who has often spoken up without fear or favour on issues of transparency and accountability in the past, to be the conscience in the BN cabinet.  While he was a former MCA member, today he does not belong to any political party and he is not beholden to anyone but his own moral sense of right and wrong.

Datuk Paul Low has taken the brave and bold decision to accept the Cabinet position in an attempt to do the seemingly "impossible" task of "reforming from within".  However if he is not even willing to stand up on his own convictions that transparency and accountability are prerequisites to good governance which cannot be compromised, and to pursue justice for the victims of abuses of power, then whatever little hope the nation still have left will be lost.
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