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Crime rate IS down, says Hishammuddin

Monday, 11 June 2012 09:25am

©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Tan Yi Liang

BANGI (June 10, 2012): Any perceived increase in the crime rate is a matter of perception as generally crime in the country is on the decrease, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein today.

“If one or two cases are sensationalised, it would seem as if Malaysia is unsafe. I will not deny that we have to improve the perception, but it is not us saying that the crime rate has gone down, but the assessment of international bodies,” he told a press conference here after officiating the ministry’s Youth Day gathering here.

According to Hishammuddin, there were 50 crime ‘hot-spots’ in 2009 when the target of reducing street crimes was made into one of the National Key Result Area.

“Now people see robberies and murders, but when we started three years ago we promised a reduction in snatch thefts and other street crime,”Hishammuddin said in reference to various robbery and murder cases as highlighted in the media in the last few days.

Various commentators had pointed the cases were not reflection of the the crime rate reduction as touted by the authorities.

Hishammuddin said despite the dip in the crime rate, measures were being taken to step up police presence.

He said this was being done by the deployment of police and Rela personnel to schools at peak hours – in the aftermath of the Nayati Moodliar kidnapping.

“We get Rela involved because their presence at certain areas at certain times will change the perception that contradicts the decreasing crime rate,” he said.

On the replacement of members on the Bersih 3.0 independent panel, Hishammuddin said it was up to the panel chaired by former Inspector General of Police Tun Hanif Omar.

“I have given them their independence from the start, so it is up to them to decide,” said Hishammuddin.

On June 4, former Borneo chief judge Tan Sri Steve Shim and Petronas corporate affairs senior general manager Datuk Medan Abdullah cited health reasons and work commitments respectively as reasons for not joining the panel.

Speaking on the 15,000 strong crowd in the hall at the gathering, Hishammuddin said while it was easy to fire up the spirits of youth, the question was whether youth were fired up for a positive or destructive cause.

He said the event showed that youths can be fired up in the spirit of unity, for a positive cause.

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