THE brutal attack by a robber on a woman at the MRT station in Taman Mutiara has outraged the public. And rightly so.
The crime now costs the government money, time and resources as an estimated 200 police personnel have to be mobilised to track down the robber.
To respond with assurances that measures will be taken to protect, ensure and provide responsible and effective safety and security measures after an incident that could have been life threatening is a common response from business operators.
It is time to be responsible, accountable and smart.
What are the lessons that business operators like Rapid KL and others can learn, review and put in place as responsible corporate citizens?
First, operators must know that having security technology alone is not enough. Producing evidence alone following a crime only burdens the victims and the police.
Second, mobilising manpower to ensure that the service provided is safe and secure is the sole responsibility of business communities.
Third, companies like Rapid KL must review and justify with public accountability how much of their profits are returned to the nation and its consumers by way of reinvesting, upgrading and maintaining holistic and effective safety and security obligations.
Fourth, doing CSR projects like sponsoring government officers for trips overseas or carrying out gotong-royong activities and painting the sky with seeming nation-building proclamations, etc just for the feel good factor is short of being deceitful.
Fifth, they must publish their safety and security records so that the public can hold them responsible for their failures or praise them for their commitment in providing services.
Just preaching to the public that they must be careful when using public services or being at public places like car parks is the way of cowards who are finding a way out of gross failures on their part.
Hence, even to state that their staff are available to help is a cheap publicity stunt to pull wool over the consumers’ eyes.
A smart, safe and secure city environment deserves a more critical appraisal by all parties and is not the job of the police alone.
It is time to hold our business operators accountable all the time.
J. D. Lovrenciear
Kuala Lumpur
