A few days ago a young man was found dead at the carpark of an apartment in Jalan Tun Jugah, Kuching, Sarawak. The case was classified as sudden death. Yesterday a family member of the deceased suspected that there was a foul play and lodged a police report about the matter. The family was desperate and asked me for help because they do not know how to communicate with the police to get the suspects arrested.

One of the suspects is believed to be a foreigner and if she leaves the state the possibility of having her arrested will be very slim. Police can complete their investigation but it will be wasted effort because the possibility of arresting the suspect will be very slim. Even if someone is arrested and charged in court from murder, it can give wide gap or loophole in the prosecution case and justice will not be served.

When I tried to speak to a senior police officer in charge of serious crimes in Kuching Police District, it really annoyed me that he did not wish to hear me speaking to him after he knew the call was from me after I introduced myself. Perhaps be could not speak English or perhaps he should not speak to someone who could not speak malay well. Or could he take the cue or instructions from the prime minster that only malay should be used in communication of official matters?

I wanted to seek his help to see the family of the deceased to get information of the whereabouts the suspects were because they knew where the suspects were hiding. Apparently, the family members of the deceased had no confidence to relay such information to any police officer they don’t know or could not trust for fear of leakage of information.

I was made to understand that this was a syndicated crime which involves use of bank cards, money laundering and use of drugs amongst youths.

Public should have confidence to give information to the police to assist in the investigation and at the same time, police officers should not avoid receiving calls from members of the public. This is because police could not investigate any crime without any information from members of the public. I have a public duty to ensure that the case should be properly investigated with speed. You cannot delay in any investigation and help must be rendered to the police immediately when there is information of a crime.

VOON LEE SHAN
PRESIDENT
PARTI BUMI KENYALANG