By Adib Zalkapli, The Malaysian Insider
DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang slammed Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan for allegedly misleading the Cabinet and the National Economic Council by saying that the worsening crime index was caused by perception.
“What is outrageous is that the Cabinet and the National Economic Council could be browbeaten so easily by the IGP yesterday to accept such a ridiculous ploy, to the extent that this has been adopted as the official policy position as to be publicly enunciated by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak two days ago,” said Lim in a statement today. The Ipoh Timor MP added that the comparison with other countries was also done unfairly. “Homicide per 100,000 population is 1.09 cases in Japan, 0.26 cases in Hong Kong but 2.12 in Malaysia; while rape per 100,000 population is 1.62 in Japan, 1.54 in Hong Kong while in Malaysia it is 11.47. For robbery per 100,000 population, it is 4.78 for Japan, 17.56 for Hong Kong while it is 90.49 for Malaysia,” said Lim. “With these shocking statistics about violent crimes for the three countries, how could the IGP be so irresponsible as to mislead the Cabinet and the National Economic Council to believe that Malaysia is safer than Japan and Hong Kong?” he asked. Lim also challenged the Cabinet and members of economic council to see for themselves whether Malaysian streets are indeed safe. “If the Cabinet Ministers and National Economic Council members can so easily buy the bluff of the IGP, I challenge them to walk the streets of Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur for a day without protection,” said Lim. He also urged MPs from both sides of the political divide to take a common stand in rejecting Musa’s “ridiculous ploy to explain away the worsening crime index with a statistical sleight-of-hand by claiming that it is purely a problem of misperception.” Tony Pua, the MP from PJ Utara, argued in his blog today that it was clear that Malaysia was not safer than Japan and not the other way around. He said that based on statistics provided by the Statistics Bureau of Japan, in 2007, the crime rate per 100,000 was 1,493.6. However, approximately 75% of this number is classified as “larceny” or theft. The biggest contrast, he said, was for robbery cases. Japan recorded only 4.69 cases per 100,000 while it’s a staggering 88.76 cases for Malaysia. Similarly, criminal intimidation in Japan accounted for only 1.92 cases per 100,000 while in Malaysia it’s 21.31 cases. “Hence, the Government’s attempts to paint a picture that Malaysia is much safer than Japan is clearly misleading at best. In fact, from the statistics of violent crimes, Malaysia is a much more dangerous place when compared to Japan. Meanwhile Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said he was willing to walk in the streets of Johor Bahru, the district that form part of his constituency to prove the city is safe. “I’m willing to walk together with him,” Nur Jazlan told The Malaysian Insider, claiming that the police have done well in crime prevention. “What cannot be fully stopped is the petty, unorganised and spontaneous crimes,” he added.
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