last week my 16 year old sister got into a motorcycle accident. she got knocked by a car from the side as she was trying to avoid a big puddle of water in front of her. thank god she didnt get hit by oncoming cars. she only had some bad cuts and bruises over her face, arms and legs. the guy who hit her was a chinese man in his 60s. when he got out of his car, instead of coming to her aid, he just stood there by his car and made a call on his handphone. at this time my sis was pretty much in shock and pain. she was crying when she asked him to take her to the general hospital which was less than 5mins drive away. he was hessitant. the reason... because his car was a new honda city and he didnt want to get it dirty with blood. two malay motorist who happened to pass by at the time, stopped and helped carried my sister up and pushed the bike to the side of the road. after much chiding and insult from the malay motorists, only did the man agreed to fetch my sis to the hospital. in the hospital, my sister received prompt and efficient medical care and treatment by the medical officer and hospital staff on duty.
since we couldnt agree on whose fault it was that caused the accident, both party agreed to make a police report so that we can file for an insurance claim.

MESRA, CEKAP DAN BETUL
in the police station, our statement was taken by a lance corporal, whose was real nice and efficient. the report was done in 30mins. he then asked me to look for and pass a document to a Sargeant K, who was suppose to be at his desk but was missing.

MESRA??
i found the sargeant sitting under a tree and talking on his hp. so i asked him nicely and politely if he was Sargeant K to which he replied, "YA YA SAYA TAU APA NAK BUAT!! YOU TAK BOLEH DIRI DAN TUNGGU SANA SEKEJAP KAH!!!" kanineh!! got screwed just because i was trying to pass on a document.

BETUL??
he appeared after 20mins. he then said he had to take the statement all over again. i dont know whether if this is a normal procedure, but dont you feel its a bit redundant to take the report all over again. and before my sister could finish her story he said to her, 'ah kau yang salah, kau yang salah. saya kena saman you rm 300 sekarang.' when he saw that no bribe was forth coming he begin to get real restless with his work. half way thru, he said to my sister, 'ah dah bosan type la. you kasi type report you sendiri.' my sister's right hand was badly bruised and there was lacerations and abrasions at the thumb, index finger and small finger. when my sister protested and said she cant type, he gave a disgusting look as if she was lying and all the wounds was just special effects from a make up artist. when the report was finaly done, he insisted that my sister signed the report despite the lacerations on her right hand, when a simple thumb print with the left thumb was possible(earlier, the lance corporal took this course of action for his report) .

CEPAT??
this sargeant must be pretty bad at hearing or typing, cause what took the lance corporal 30mins to do took him almost 2 hours. and there was 3 or 4 more people waiting outside to make their report.

MESRA, CEPAT DAN BETUL thats the motto of our police force. sadly the way Sj.K conducted himself does not reflect those giant words imprinted outside the police station. it is safe to say that most malaysians do not hold the malaysian police force in high esteem. more often than not, we equate corruption and the police force together. i once had a friend who said to me "show me one clean traffic policeman and i'll show you a leprechaun." while his view is rather pessimistic in nature, that is the general feeling of the public. i do not doubt that there are good and honest policeman out there doing their best in their demanding job and making our country a safer place, for exampel the lance corporal in my story(whose name i regretfully did not remember or i would have added his name into my story). but the fact that there are so many wrong doing by the police that you just cant blame the public for their mistrust. i think its safe to say that us malaysians fear the police more than respect them.

ROLE OF THE GOVERMENT
measures taken by the goverment to boost the image of the police force is laughable and has done little to increase the publics' confidence because many feel that whatever action taken are merely for show. if the goverment really wants to impress the public, they should start taking serious measures like catching and prosecuting corrupted policeman instead of useless campaign such as KEMPEN KHIDMAT MESRA (Friendly Policing). whats the point of having such programs, when you are not doing anything to tackle the real problem-corruption. a cop will be dirty and remain so if there is no heavy deterrent to strike fear into them. why is it that our country has a relatively low number of cases in drug smuggling?? cause everyone, local and foreign, knows that it is punishable by death. im not advocating for the death sentence here, but merely to state my point for the need of a serious deterrent. i personally beleive that dirty policemen and politicians should be given harsher punishment for betraying the trust of the public. another solution is for goverment to set up an Internal Affairs agency, free from the influence and control of high ranking policeman. most countries have one and their sole purpose is so that the police officers are kept in line. you cant expect a cop to investigate another cop. to much sense of camaraderie can blind the investigating officer from his objectives. plus, an investigating officer can always be pressured by a higher ranking police officer who might also be on the take, to stray away from his objectives.

HIGHER PAY
much has been said bout increasing the pay of a policeman to curb corruption. it is our PM's view 'that if a person is greedy, no matter if he is earning a million dollars, he will still be corrupted.' while he might have a point there, i would like to stress that not everyone resort to corruption because they are greedy in nature. most of the low ranking policemen earn less that rm1000 a month and they have families to feed and care for. a policeman in a rural area might just get by with rm1000, but a cop in the city will definetly find it hard to put food on the table for his family and provide the basic needs of his wife and school going children. because of constant and sometimes desperate financial circumstances, a person can be tempted to take a bribe. a policeman might feel if everyone else is doing it, why should he not do it himslef. after all, he is just trying to provide for his family. going by this mentality, corruption is now not something wrong but something noble. this then sets off a terrible precedence. it is only human nature that we avoid the path of hardship and choose the path of least resistance if we know we can get away with it. so by increasing the basic salary of policemen in this country, at least we can help stop those policeman on the take who does it for his family. also to a certain extent, well paid new recruits with a young family will not be tempted to take a bribe. for a cop to be corrupted he must take that first bribe. it only become a habit if he gets away with it. if the need for the 'first bribe' never arises, we will have done a lot to curb corruption.

THE PUBLIC THEMSELVES

"wah, kanineh, that day i kena give police catch man. i quickly quickly throw my money under my seat and keep only RM10. and when the police man come i say i only got RM10. hahaha... so bodoh one them!!" sounds familiar?? how many of us know of people bribing a policeman after being caught for a traffic offence. how many of us have actually bribed a policeman and brag bout it to our friends and family members. its all base on the simple theory of demand and supply. if the public can hold on to a higher moral ground, we wouldnt be discussing bout corruption now. its not all the cops fault. admit it, you are dirty yourself!! if the public doesnt offer a bribe in the first place, the cop cant receive a bribe. i know rm300 is alot of money compared to rm10. again i ask of the public to hold on to higher moral grounds. at least if you pay the RM300 fine, the money goes back to you and the public indirectly thru whatever development that the goverment does with the money. if you bribe the cop, you are not only commiting a sin but also you lose all moral right in judging and critising corrupted policeman. as malaysians we are always fond of pushing the blame on others when something wrong happens. we never do look into ourselves and reflect on our course of actions, but rather cloak ourselves with a mirage of moral righteousness. to stamp corruption, we as the public must also play our role. pay the fine. you might be financially tight for that month. at least the hardship in on earth only and you will be safe from further hardship when your time is up.

after all said, it is still up to the government to take the necessary actions and the public to play their part. talk the talk yes, but please walk the walk to. it is time for us malaysians to shed our 'tidak apa' and 'takdir tuhan' attitude and be proactive in solving this national problem of ours. its not just a problem. its OUR problem.