The net’s abuzz with recent news of mms clips finding their way on the internet, clearly showing the abuse of a Chinese woman thought to be a Chinese national. The vid clip can be found on Malaysiakini’s website here. It shows the viewer the naked back of a Chinese woman commanded to perform “ear squats” like a kindergarten kid. From the viewpoint of that clip, it appears that the person giving the orders is a woman in dark blue uniform, though not specifically identifiable as a policewoman.


It lasts several seconds, but the outrage is expected to last several weeks, if not months. For some days, now, bloggers on PPS have been recounting horror stories with police in response to Mr Aiznuddin’s plea for a show of support and outrage over here.

It’s a given that we appear to be living in a police state. All the elements seem to be in place, or so it would seem: a patriachal government, a police force that strikes fear in citizens rather than in thieves, and actions that go unchecked and unrestrained by the rule of law. (What rule of law?)

We don’t really have a patriachal state so much as having a docile and/or apathetic polity. The reasons for such apathy in the current situation may stem from the nearness of our collective memories to the May 13th riots, or to the memories of emerging fresh into our own independence. Or, it may have arisen from a learned distrust of politicians of every stripe. One may argue that the state is feudal, and by implication patriachal, but patriachal itself would suggest a patronizing regard to the polity in general. This is certainly not the case for at least a large part of the population.

But what we do have is state-sanctioned abuse and brutality in the form of the ISA. The mandates of politicians wielding this tool are carried out by the police. What are the police in this instance? Definitely beyond any sanction of the public interests, an idea which alvinyv mentions. The police have become equally culpable, or seen as such, with the politicians who have chosen to wield a particular law which runs contrary to public opinion.

I’ve been thinking about suggestions to improve the police force in Malaysia, and while there are pragmatic solutions presented, I’m wondering if the problem doesn’t lie deeper. There is obviously a lack of respect for the police; fear of the police motivates people to act, and in many cases, people don’t really fear the police at all. The police, for their actions in Ops Lalang, for the various raids carried out in the name of ISA and other orders from the executive arm seem to be a tool of the public that has alienated itself from the very public it serves.

Compound this problem with low salaries, bad training and a horrible reputation, and you have a picture of a police force floundering to maintain some sense of dignity about its role in the public domain. It sometimes feels as if the police pay lip service to the law, when the real law are the policemen and policewomen themselves.

I’m wondering if this characterization is too unrealistic, or even false. What can be done to improve the situation?

In the meantime, several things are probably going to happen:

  • The IGP or similar high-ranking official will resign for what Opposition politicians, and now BN politicians are characterizing as a National Disgrace.
  • A week or two of reactions from around the world will start pouring in, and it will be little wonder if these newsbits are given less air-time or column-space to breathe.
  • Depending on the public reaction, BN politicians and, as a given, Opposition politicians will start making broad demands about police reform. I think a mention about the recent Royal Commission report will surface, and demands will arise for speedier implementation.
  • The government has sent En Azmi Khalid to China to explain the situation; we will not hear any other news about this.
  • This will all be forgotten in about 2 months; just as the problems in Proton were trumped by the AP issue, some other controversy will surface.

I can only hope that things change.