The public have always held that the humble and toiling men and women in
blue – our faithful Polis DiRaja Malaysia, are not to be blamed for the
many instances where the rakyat were given the raw deal. Public opinion
holds that it is because of 'arahan orang atasan'.
Yes, there are pockets of men and women on the police payroll who have
drifted along the call of duty and done wrong. But when you interface
with the police or their families and gain their trusted confidence, it
does not require an Einstein-brain to decipher that our men and women in
blue are not much cared for by the government.
RELA at the expense of the ordinary police personnel
The government – under the BN patronage and leadership has no qualms to
allocate overnight and out of the blue budget allocations to feed ,
clothe and arm a battalion of RELA recruits.
But the PDRM folks have ploughed through the half-a-decade with a
mountain of obstacles and inconveniences and yet put duty above self.
And they do not have the avenue of protest platforms to register their
cruel work conditions and unrewarding duties-before-self.
Just take a look at how long it took us to ensure that police families
could have a decent roof above their heads unlike the pigeon holed
dwellings that was dished out for them for decades.
Take a look at how long it took the government to even provide
comfortable, decent, swiveled, fabric chairs and workstations with
modern-day computer technology and you get the drift of misplaced
priorities.
Even then, many of the printers at the many balai are so antiquated.
Getting a cartridge of ink replaced can be a frustrating wait.
Long hours, bad health
Today, despite so much of emphasis and prioritization for the RELA
forces, you find our PDRM men and women are working fifteen to eighteen
hours without weekends.
Talk to these duty disciplined men and women who are at His Majesty’s
service in the interest of the rakyat and Negara, and you will learn
that indeed it is no surprise why many of them suffer from heart related
disorders and digestive ailments, let alone diabetes and other diseases
and mental health states.
When it comes to claims and financial relief, the public sympathizers
and the PDRM family members know too well how arduous and complicated
such claims can be for disbursement – from a simple mobile phone
expenditure to out-of-pocket expenses incurred when on duty chaperoning a
VVIP.
We witness the BN government allocating billions of ringgit for all
kinds of public expenditure and seeming national development programs.
But when it comes to increasing our police force we have a funds issue.
If it is not a funds issue, the peddled excuse is that citizens are not
interested in joining the PDRM. But when it comes to RELA recruiting
exercise – wow, within months you have hundreds of thousands enlisted.
Govt must come clean on cost of maintaining police force
It is time that our police force are given top priority in terms of
working conditions, working environment, benefits and remuneration. It
is time that the PDRM men and women – especially the humble cop who
fights sleep, braves rain and shine, and is deprived of reasonable
family time, rest and recreation as he or she puts duty above self,
enjoys a meaningful and sensibly rewarding life.
Do our politicians know how many cops are separated from their husbands
or wives and children weeks on end and sometimes for years simply
because of work and near impossibility of securing work transfers?
It is about time that we get honest. It is about time that we recognized
that our uniformed men and women – whether they serve the police, air
force or the army, are graded and rewarded commensurate with the cost of
living with express priority.
Unless and until the government can come clean on this score of caring
for our men and women in blue, we remain guilty of exploitation. That
care must translate to cover mental state, medical state, physical
state, financial state, social state, and of course living a meaningful
life of duty to serve and the right to enjoy living.
Malaysia Chronicle
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