Lawmakers present at the press conference – MP for Serdang Teo Nie Ching, ADUN for Teratai Jenice Lee, ADUN for Subang Jaya Hannah Yeoh, ADUN for Rawang Gan Pei Nei and ADUN for Kampung Tunku Lau Weng San together with other NGOsJust barely two days ago, several of us lawmakers & representatives from NGOs were speaking to reporters at a press conference condemning the arrests of lawmakers and civilians at a peaceful candlelight vigil. Hours ago, Jenice Lee (ADUN for Teratai) has once again been arrested by the police at a candlelight vigil. I hope the same enthusiasm to arrest peaceful civilians can be applied by the police in addressing the alarming crime rate in our communities. Close to 150 arrests have been made over the last 2 weeks; beginning with the arrest of Wong Chin Huat, escalating during the Perak state assembly sitting on May 7, and continuing with further clampdowns even in parts of KL and Selangor. It seems like any public show of dissent against the constitutional crisis in Perak justifies a reason for arrest. If you can be arrested for wearing black, holding a candle or lighting a birthday cake, then democracy has truly come to an end in Malaysia.
The Home Ministry is blatantly abusing the powers of the police force. Many of us want to know why precious police resources (hundreds of police personnel, patrol cars, even helicopters) are being deployed to break up peaceful candlelight vigils instead of being used to patrol and monitor our streets and our homes? Subang Jaya has very recently been subjected to attacks by groups of Mat Rempits. Is the Home Minister serious in solving this problem? Well, it doesn’t seem like it. Our Home Minister, Hishammudin Hussein is busy solving the UMNO problem in Terengganu. Yes, UMNO problems come first. That’s the priority of our Home Minister. He’s also busy reviewing the UMNO constitution, as he’s heading the UMNO Constitution Amendment Technical Committee. This is what our Home Minister is up to these days – UMNO party work. The police force needs urgent revamp, the judiciary requires urgent rehabilitation, but all of these seem to be sidelined for the sake of transforming UMNO first.