LONE's rantings for all interested, COMMENTS/KOPI-0s welcomed. Comments are solely the views of their makers
MALAYSIA, a great place to be in, BUT we can, will and must make HER better.
You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one.
IMAGINE:youtube::John Lennon
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Morality Guardians or What?
Our "Morality Guardians" are back at it again. No sooner than those in Ipoh have quieten down, those in KL are in action. This time around it involved a couple apprehended in the KLCC Park on Aug 2 for behaving "indecently". The couple said that all they did was sit in the park and talk. The 2 enforcement officers from City Hall claimed they were hugging and therefore behaving indecently. The officers were alleged to have offered not to summon the couple if they would commit another "indecent" act ie pay the officers off. The amount of money rapidly dropped from an initial demand of Rm200 to Rm50, what a twist. When the couple refused to pay they were issued summonses which stated that the couple were behaving indecently, hugging and kissing at a public site.
Subsequently the couple lodged a police report with the help of the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong. After some initial investigations, the Datuk Bandar Datuk Mohmad Shaid Mohd Taufek said ::
“The director of the enforcement department had checked the office where such summonses were recorded and there were no summonses issued for indecency.” {Denial} “Someone was most probably impersonating our officers. Anyway, I’m going to check again on Monday.” {Scapegoat wanted} He said although there was a by-law allowing enforcement officers to take action against those who behaved indecently at parks, they had been ordered not to do so because of fears of power abuse. {So pro-active, even knew there were possible power-abusers around}
The latest report in the Star showed the usual "about turn or gostan balik". The Datuk Bandar now confirms the officers were from City Hall and that they were immediately “restricted” to desk duty pending investigations. No imposters involved lah, no scpaegoats lah. He also confirmed that a probe is being carried out. But it will be the usual ineffective "internal probe", why not an "external probe" which would be more effective.
The cabinet has also got into the act as according to Rais the case is viewed seriously as it was alleged that certain elements of corruption were involved. This was reported by the Malay Mail, under the heading Up to the Cabinet. The outcome is awaited keenly so that our youngs can be saved from further harrassment while in the parks.
The cabinet could have been more proactive and had these bylaws suspended or removed earlier when the cases in Ipoh, Perak first surfaced. Potential power-abusers like in the latest case could have been nipped. If the bylaws have to stay, could the "indecent behaviours" be clearly defined and widely made known? Without clear definitions and guidelines, power-abusers will take advantage of the situation.