PETALING JAYA: News of the home ministry ordering some police stations nationwide to close their gates from 10pm daily as a safeguard following a fatal attack at the Ulu Tiram station in May has not gone down well with the public.
This is despite Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain clarifying that police stations will continue providing services as usual despite the gate closure.
On Wednesday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced in Parliament that there was a need to balance community requirements with the safety of policemen on duty.
“Police stations are the place for the people to file complaints but at the same time, they are also potential targets,” he said.
In the May 17 attack, a 21-year-old man stormed into the Ulu Tiram police station in Johor, killing two constables, Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar, 22, and Syafiq Ahmad Said, 24, and injuring a third policeman.
The assailant was shot and killed at the scene.
Five of his family members were later charged with inciting terrorism by spreading the Islamic State militant group’s ideology.
However, company manager Mohd Nasruddin Ismail, 36, said he was shocked by the announcement.
“While I’m sorry for the deaths of the policemen in Ulu Tiram, the fact is that the police are armed and trained to defend the public and themselves.
“Ordering police stations to close their gates at 10pm gives the impression that they are frightened and cannot defend themselves, let alone the public. So what is the point of having the police? We might as well have the army protect the public.”
Mohd Nasruddin said when his three young children aged between three and 10 misbehave in public, he often tells them that he will call the police to arrest them.
“Now, it seems that the police are too afraid of visitors to their stations. So, I am feeling a little embarrassed to threaten my children using the police as a bogeyman.”
Secondary school teacher Aminah Raz Ismail, 42, said Saifuddin’s order comes across as a joke.
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading in the news. It seems like the police are not the protectors of the public that we have been led to believe.
“Some of my Form Six students even raised this in class and upon doing some research, we found that the Malaysian police force was formed on March 25, 1807, which makes it 207 years old.
“So isn’t it insulting to the police that they are unable to defend themselves against an attack?”
Aminah Raz said everyone she spoke to seems to believe that this is the wrong message to send out as it gives the impression that police are incapable of protecting their own, much less the public.
Retired army soldier S. Munusamy, 56, said he has friends in the police force and they are also embarrassed by the Home Ministry decision.
“Too many people are now asking policemen, takut orang kah? (afraid of the public?) and police personnel have no answer for them.
“I feel bad for my police friends. They didn’t ask to be put in this position, in which they look like frightened people who cannot defend themselves and have to close the station gate at 10pm.”
Munusamy, who is now a part-time tourist guide, also said the Home Ministry order gives a very bad impression to tourists as well.
“Some tourists have asked me if Malaysia is so unsafe that even the police stations have to close their gates at 10pm, and if this is so, how will they protect the public and tourists?”
