Gangsterism is a problem that is rife is Malaysia but it appears that one state in Malaysia claims that they do not have such an issue. You’ll be surprised how his explanation got Malaysians of every race, even Malays themselves, enraged!
According to NST, Terengganu’s police chief Datuk Aidi Ismail said that “Terengganu has no gangsterism problem, because the state is overwhelmingly Malay.” He added that 97 per cent of the state’s population is made up of Malays and the community still respects people in authority such as the village elders, village chiefs and imams.
Source: NST
“This culture is an advantage, and can prevent crimes related to gangsterism. Residents would also usually report criminal activities to the police, such as drug abuse by youths,” he explained.
Apparently, Terengganu’s crime index had fallen, with a decline of 7.3 per cent in the first 1o months of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. Overall, Putrajaya announced in May that Malaysia’s crime index had gradually fallen by 47 per cent from 2010 to 2016. Wah, almost half!
Source: Cinema Online
This crime index takes into consideration the volume of criminal activities such as property theft and violent crime in a given area but does not cover commercial crime, drug-related business crime and cyber crime.
Datuk Aidi’s statement was hotly debated by Malaysians from all races after it was published online, with many of them slamming the police for his statement.
Some of them were rather doubtful while others enquired about other brutal and violent crimes in the state. One said, “In Terengganu there may be not many gangs, but crime is still high. You do not need a very organised crime syndicate for street crimes, burglary, rape, robbery, house breaking, drug pushing, and murder. Three or four rowdies working together can commit crime. Organised crime syndicates seldom commit street and property crime, may be running gambling and prostitution rackets.”
Source: Facebook
A few Malaysians from other races and even our fellow Malays questioned the point of his statement with some even saying it was a”childish”.
Many pointed out that statistics is statistics. There was no need to bring race into the picture.
Perhaps this netizen summed it up the best:
Source: Facebook
What do you think of this statement?
Also read: Debate for Seemingly ‘Racist’ Laundry Store Continues, Here’s the Perspective from Both Sides
