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Monday, October 02, 2006

Will Botakgate II cost taxpayers RM3.75 million?

In February this year Police in Kajang arrested a group of granddads for playing mahjong during Chinese New Year. While under custody, they were all shaven bald on police orders.

I asked what security objective was achieved by shaving these granddads bald? Have they been convicted yet, of whatever crimes? Indeed, what notorious crimes did they commit? Are the Police judges as well that had deemed those old men guilty and meriting of punishment through the shaving of their heads?

The police in their arrogant behaviour had ill-treated those senior citizens and by default the public with contempt, disdain, arrogance, sadism, and a lesson for the public to know siapa raja (who's the boss).

I said that the root of the problem is the abysmal lazy leadership. There is no bad soldier, only bad generals. I remarked that the PM who had been also (and still is) the Internal Security Minister must make the hard call. Strike at the heart of the problem, uproot the weed, decapitate the poisonous head! Basically sack the senior officers responsible, starting from the IGP (since then retired as a hero) and the deputy IGP (who is now the IGP).

See my February posting Bald & Naked Truth of Malaysian Police.

Well, the PM didn’t take my advice, but I recall the police had launched a PR effort to ‘slow talk’ the granddads into not suing them. Following the public outcry the police agreed to stop such dictatorial and illegal action of forcing detainees (yet to be proven guilty, even for minor misdemeanours) to be shaven bald.

Hardly surprising, knowing the Royal Malaysian Police, the Kajang police have been totally unrepentant because in June, just a mere 4 months after the granddads’ Botakgate affair, they did Botakgate II. Siapa f**king raja!

On June 22 last year, a resident at Venice Hill Condominium complained that his car was denied entry into the condominium after he refused to pay for a newly installed toll system. So the resident lodged a police report, prompting the arrests of the security guards. The resident must be a big shot, or the police would be like a Madagascar sloth when it comes to any required action of such nature.

According to their lawyer, P Uthayakumar, the 10 security guards including a couple of women were chained like slaves in a small prison cell along with 127 other inmates, and had their heads shaven bald.

Surely the question on that ill-treatment must again be what security objective had been achieved by forcing the security guards including two women to be shaven bald.


Has it been a siapa raja case again?

The victims are now suing the government for RM3.75 million.

Even if those security guards win their case (and I hope they do), and the government forks out the taxpayers’ money, the matter shouldn't be allowed to end there – this time the IGP and the Kajang OCPD must be sacked. The police is beyond redemption. The former IGP who has been named as one of the defendants should have his pension taken away or reduced.

The PM who is Internal Security Minister should hang his head in shame and self deduct RM1 from his pay. But I have not much expectation nor hope from this PM.

In PM Waterloo-ed I remarkled that I was utterly sickened by the PM when he said he appreciated the (former/now retired) IGP’s efforts to stem domestic problems and indiscipline, and that he (AAB) had confidence in the police force’s internal disciplinary mechanism to deal appropriately with bad apples, including sacking those who deserved it.

All this PM’s indulgence of the police was made shortly after the publ;ic hue and cry over police brutalities in Squatgate, Botakgate, Pirouettegate, victimisation and abuse (peeping & ogling) of Chinese wives of Malaysian citizens at a police station, a Japanese student suffering extortion from a policeman at a road block, and the late Udayappan who perished along with 80 others in police custody, etc!


Didn't the PM have a sense of proportion or timing, or more importantly fairness to the myriad victims of the police?

We must acknowledge that we cannot depend on this PM & Internal Security Minister to turn the notorious Police over a new leaf.

Related:

(1) Police undermined PM's decision
(2) Axe the clueless IGP!

1 comment:

  1. Everytime these boys in blue fuk-up, it is we, the taxpayers who has to pay. If the coppers wants pay-raise, fine! Then submit to proper procedures and obey a proper code of conduct. The IPCMC must be implemented on these self-proclaimed rajas.

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