With regards to Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's plan to recruit extra officers over the next five years, he said that getting them will be a challenge in itself, as:

  • police pay is low by local standards, and
    corruption in the ranks is a problem.

If they know what the problem is, why don't they tackle it? Why spend the money buying expensive tanks to defend the country when:

  • we are under no real threat of being attacked, and
  • tanks are not exactly conducive to Malaysian terrain?

The corruption will never stop because it takes two to tango. The public encourages corruption by offering bribes. If enough people insist on a summons instead of bribing (especially if they have done something wrong!), that may help a little.

And while they're trying to find where else they can get the money from, here are more suggestions:

  • Spend less on Putrajaya, which is a complete and utter waste of public money.
  • Stop putting up billboards which lists the phone numbers and email addresses of ministers all over the place, because they don't work! Try sending an email to them and you will know exactly what I mean.
  • Stop giving contracts to non-deserving contractors (cronies) who overcharge the government by several hundred percent.

In addition to that, the public have also called for the police force to uphold their 'Cekap, Mesra & Betul' in light of the recent murder and rape of Canny Ong. Please, the force do not know the meaning of the word 'professional'.

When one goes to the PJ Traffic headquarters, you will find officers lying down on the couches in some of the rooms, even when you have a question to ask them, they'll answer you from that horizontal position. Trust me, I've been there.

I have however met some pretty professional and mesra officers but they are so rare. And you're more likely to be greeted by some female officer whose muka is so masam that you don't even feel like lodging the report. They're supposed to help people but you wonder why they choose that job if they're not people-friendly in the first place?