Thanks, Mr Opposition

I appreciate the fact that our Opposition Leader, Mr Lim Kit Siang has highlighted the distressing escalation of crime in Malaysia on his blog here. I hope he will spearhead a nationwide campaign to persuade our government to view this matter seriously.

His call to restore a peaceful & low-crime nation to all Malaysians is timely:-

"Sunday saw another fatal victim of a snatch-thief – the avoidable death of 25-year-old sales girl Ng Chew Lim who sustained internal head injuries when she fell down the staircase in a scuffle with a drug addict at the Berjaya Megamall shopping centre in Kuantan.

... the Inspector-General of Police-designate, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, said ... a large number of murders, rapes, robberies and snatch thefts have been blamed on those under the influence of designer drugs, who “tend to be aggressive and fail to understand the consequences of their actions”.

What is the message? That the Police are helpless in the face of the crime wave? That the times of only the recent past when Malaysians are free from crime and the fear of crime are gone forever, never to return? That Malaysians must be prepared for crime to strike anytime, any place, regardless of public places, streets and even the privacy of their homes? ..."

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She dies after tussle with snatch thief (NST, 8 Aug 2006)
M. Hamzah Jamaludin

KUANTAN: When Ng Chiew Lim opted to use the staircase at the Berjaya Megamall shopping centre on Sunday, little did she know that a snatch thief would be waiting for prey there.

Seconds after the 25-year-old salesgirl began descending to the ground floor at 7pm, a youth, sniffing glue, began trailing her.

He tried to snatch her handbag only to have the victim fight back. In the melee, both fell.

The thief escaped injury and fled to the ground floor but Ng was not so fortunate.

She sustained internal injuries and sat on the steps, nursing her head. Shoppers who rushed into the area on hearing the commotion found her mute and in a state of shock.

Ng was rushed to the nearby Kuantan Medical Centre where she lapsed into a coma. Doctors tried to save her but failed and she died at 11am yesterday.

... Meanwhile, Ng’s family were devastated when met at the hospital.

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How many more heart-breaking incidents like this are we to endure before our police force realise we need their help to protect us from falling victim, again & again?