The Johor police force has been in quite the limelight since March last year, for all the right reasons, unlike some other police matters.
There appears to be no letting up after a year, with state police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay leading the march relentlessly, chalking up success after success – huge drug seizures, corrupt immigration officers, police officers nabbed for corruption and drug trafficking, big time money launderers brought down, you name it and you have it.
What is most fresh in our minds is the busting of fugitive Nicky Liow Soon Hee’s gang for money laundering and commercial crime. The Johor top cop must have shocked even his own senior colleagues with his bold move, while Liow had been having a field day with claims of connections to high places.
What also caught my attention was the nation’s largest single drug haul of RM204 million in Johor in January, with five people charged shortly after.
Netizens were in their usual critical mode saying the kingpin has not been caught and alleging that he is being protected by top police officers. At the same, it was a pleasant change to see some netizens singing praises of the police actions in Johor, a state where the royalty has huge sway.
Frankly, social media has never been kind to our policemen.
Many may ask what contributed to the mini police tsunami in the south since March last year? Well, on paper it appears to be the appointment of Ayob Khan as the new Johor police chief after being director of the federal counter-terrorism unit.
He had been in the forefront of Bukit Aman’s efforts against terrorism for several years. This Kedahan was instrumental in the division’s success in thwarting various terror plots and nabbing more than 500 militants since February 2013.
An impressive record that got the attention of the international media many times. But never once had he given them an interview despite several attempts by organisations thirsty for news on the Malaysian anti-terror success.
A lot of good work by our police officers has been drowned by many recent actions that have never happened before.
Malaysians have long suspected the existence of cartels in various organisations but no one had the guts to speak up until now, when none other than the Inspector-General of Police himself did.
Abdul Hamid Bador declared several times that there was a cartel in the police force controlled by a younger set of senior cops trying to push him out.
He said this group was also trying to topple him to continue with their corrupt ways by being in cahoots with the underworld kingpins. If you or I had made this accusation, the police would not have wasted time in knocking on our doors.
Then came the IGP’s move to transfer 71 senior officers which was “thwarted” when home minister Hamzah Zainudin told him to put this on hold. This was also divulged by the IGP himself, something that made Malaysians sit up and wonder what was going on.
Yes, the home minister did say he does not interfere in the transfer of police officers explaining that it is the Police Force Commission, which he chairs, that decides.
But everyone knows that the police force is under the watch of the home ministry and past actions have shown that the grip can be quite tight.
Another shocker came on April 14 when Ayob Khan openly defied Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) when he said he will not hand over the names of police officers allegedly on the payroll of Liow to Bukit Aman.
“I will not just leave this matter to the JIPS. I want to take action for the offence of organised crime which, for me, is the best way. I will not reveal the list of names. Once the investigations are complete, we will arrest those involved. Wait and see,” he said.
Malaysians should dance with joy that we have one senior police officer in tune with the citizens.
Earlier, it was reported that JIPS director Zamri Yahya was waiting for the list of names involving police officers and personnel who had allegedly worked with the gang.
So are Ayob Khan and Hamid alone in this battle to bring honour to the police force and the country?
What we can conclude from all of Ayob Khan’s track record is that he is fearlessly trying to clean up the police force, one of the selected government institutions which come under scrutiny from foreign investors before they decide to do business here.
The last thing they want to see is the force entrusted with keeping the peace and public order being tainted with links to crooks who seem to be protected by certain powers.
The pair may have had their shortcomings but I dare say the nation needs more Hamids and Ayob Khans for the police force to get its lost honour back.
Malaysia has apparently become the transit hub for drug trafficking, with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin admitting to this problem.
We need more officers like Hamid and Ayob Khan to break the drug chain that is ruining hundreds of thousands of young Malaysians.
I see two brave men standing up to stop the national rot. But what are other Malaysians doing? Do we just watch as bystanders as mighty crooks work with our men in blue to destroy Malaysia’s credibility?
No, let’s stand up and be counted. We need to save our nation. We need citizenry power now to stop the rot. Otherwise, each and every one of us are as guilty as hell in this national breakdown of integrity.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
