A I S E H M A N . O R G

I am more interested in who started the rumour that the girl may not be Chinese and maybe Malay and who else in the police and government repeated it. That is the real issue.

dont the police take pics of those arrested..??? why so difficult to identify her...??

Maybe difficult to find her because they're too busy looking at everything else accept the face?

who cares about the gal nationality? we just do not want to see that happen again!!!

Most of you are missing the point.

It is an issue whether our police procedure for strip and intimate searches should be further clarified.

That is not the same as in we should no longer have strip and intimate searches.

What is important is how it should be carried out, where and under what circumstances. When the mms first surfaced, many Malaysians linked it to the maltreatment of Chinese nationals. It is a sentiment that is not unexpected, although in those cases, what we have are accusations that has to be substantiated in the court of law. We need evidence, and we certainly have them in the form of the Chinese nationals who came forward and lodged reports with the help of politicians. Hopefully, justice will be served.

We know that our police haven't exactly been a shining role model for the force it comes to law enforcement. Direct comparisons with the Indian IT professionals and other cases of impropriety and blunders when it comes to the handling of foreign nationals (who are mostly from developing or less developed countries) makes more sense.

Unfortunately, the masses are not a rational lot either. Comparisons to the Abu Ghraib were made, but it is more soundbite rather than the truth. This is a classic case of how media practitioners exaggerate and distort the truth. It was a strip search, not a human being stripped naked and put on a leash. That's not to say that our police have been above board and beyond reproach, but in this instance for what is captured on the mms, is there any evidence of abuse?

Sure, it must have been humiliating, embarassing and a dent on human dignity for the female suspect. I think when you are asked to strip before another person, it can never be easy unless you are an exhibitionist. The problem is, the policewoman is probably carrying out her duties. Did she ask the suspect to perform unusual and cruel acts? What is the abuse here, really?

As it is, we will be getting more information about the parties involved. I actually feel that the police should not reveal personal information of the policewoman and the suspect until we can determine if whether any wrongdoing has been done by the police or the suspect being subjected to unnecessary strip search. The female suspect must be contacted and her statements must be recorded to facilitate in this investigation. She is entitled to doing all that without being thrust into the limelight. She probably doesn't need the additional recognition of her humiliation - made possible and amplified by the mms to the tune of millions. As the policewoman has provided her statements, internal or independent inquiries would be able to determine if the reasons for the strip search was justified, and whether the procedure applied equally to several suspects at the same raid. Afterall, she is most probably not the only one subjected to the same treatment (strip search).

WHAT is clear, however, is the person who recorded the strip search must be punished. The police must also be reprimanded for failing to provide a secure environment and following procedure in performing the strip search. If the strip search is undertaken without good reason, the police officers who authorized the strip search must be reprimanded as well. As for the damage done to the country, we are all victims of our own sentiments, albeit helped by good intentions.

The shameful incident of a Chinese detainee being asked to ear squats in the nude is just the tip of the iceberg

When the former IGP inflicted the infamous black eye on Anwar, he knew at that time that his political master would protect him. Until the international press highlighted it.

When the police harassed the Indian IT expatriates, the Indian government retaliated. When the mistreated Chinese tourists protested, the Chinese government backed them up.

All in all, Malaysia only backtracked when a Big Brother country came into the picture.

What happens to the thousands of Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Thais, etc who are harassed daily? Nobody bothered. Why? Because there would be no political or economic fallout.

The root cause of police brutality is simply explained by famous words, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Added to this dilemma, Malaysia has not seen a change of government since independence in 1957.

This country has been and continues to head in the wrong direction, setting it further back from developed countries and undoing the good work of others in the last four decades.

I propose a national independent commission to investigate and publicly report on the alleged widespread abuse and corruption in the police force. The police should not be allowed to investigate itself. This idea seems simply ridiculous.

The lack of any sense of discernment and the shameless politicisation of the issue is a bigger shame and even more incorrigible than the abuse itself!

Abuses of police power are just the symptoms of a sick government elected by an equally sick society. We need the cure. Change must be holistic and in a total package.

Ideally, we need a change of government with a two-party system.

Unfortunately, many don't trust PAS with its Taliban leanings. It appears strategic that Anwar should lead a moderate coalition comprising Keadilan and DAP as the pillars that will include parties representing the minorities.

Undoubtedly this will be difficult to achieve but it needs to start now.

There is no more room for such nonsense for this country is collapsing under the burgeoning weight of all these fat and waste.

Let us improve in every aspect to build our Malaysia Boleh tag - which will not be fulfilled in the next hundred years if we continue like this.