“Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” now

Sharlinie -Nurin stark reminders that crime knows no race, religion or politics

It is so heart-rending for Malaysians that so soon after the tragedy of the eight-year-old Nurin Jazimin, who was abducted and murdered with her body found in a sports bag a month after she was kidnapped there is now the case of five-year-old Sharlinie Nashar, abducted in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya on Wednesday – a few kilometers from where Nurin’s body was found.

The hearts of all Malaysians go out to the aggrieved parents, Mohd Nasyar Mat Hussain and Suraya Ahmad and pray that no harm would come to her and that she would be returned and reunited with her family immediately.

The manhunt for Sharlinie must be supported by every Malaysian in the country and all DAP MPs, State Assembly members, leaders and members join in the call to the abductors to return her to her parents and family safely and immediately.

The cases of Sharlinie Nashar and Nurin Jazimin are stark reminders to drive home three sad but salient points about Malaysia which had just celebrated its 50th Merdeka anniversary:

• The Malaysian society has become a very dangerous and unsafe place for adults, women and children with crime reaching endemic proportion, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressing alarm at the 13.4% rise in crime rate for last year;

• Crime knows no race or religion as all Malaysians are potential victims of crime including violent crimes, regardless of their racial and religious backgrounds..

• The urgent need for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, to unite as one people to demand that the government deliver “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as its first duty to citizens, visitors, tourists and investors and to restore to Malaysians the twin fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime!

It is for this reason that a “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” theme will feature prominently in the DAP campaign for the forthcoming general election expected to be held within 65 days.

In the past 11 general elections for the past half-a-century, law-and-order and low crime have never featured as a significant election campaign theme. |more...|