What is wrong with Selangor now?

 

       

Of late, there have been several cases involving members of the public and the law enforcers and local councils, where the victims are usually the civilians. 

        Take for example, the dog catcher from Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) who was let off while the injured victim Patrick Khoo was charged in court for "obstructing a public servant from carrying out his duty."

        If the dog catcher "did not hit the senior citizen intentionally" was there a display of aggressive behaviour? Compared to the injury suffered by Khoo, the officer did not sustain any injury at all. 

        It is believed that the same officer was also involved in other cases where complaints about his aggressive behaviours would have reached the ears of the department director, one Dr. Chihradevi N. Vadivellu. Why was this officer not deployed elsewhere? 

        Complaints by Petaling Jaya Member of Parliament Lee Chean Chun about the aggressive behavior appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Why?

        The law that reads "obstruction of public servants" has often been interpreted to mean anyone that obstructs a law enforcer from carrying out his task. For example, if the officer enters your home, and tries to force open the door into the bedroom where your children are sleeping, and you try to persuade him not to frighten your kids, you can be charged for obstruction, too, even if he brushes you aside and a scuffle happens.

        At the end of the day, the good judge will have to decide on the merits of the case based on the arguments presented by the learned lawyers, but this process would take a lot of the court's time and put stress on the victims themselves. 

        In the case of Patrick Khoo, his is currently under court management and once it goes for trial, it can go all the way to the apex court. 

        In another case, the Appeal Court has ruled that resident associations can implement a rule that non-paying residents have to open the barrier gate themselves. 

        If the MBPJ council does not challenge this at the Apex court, or if it fails to argue the case convincingly, many of us may have to live with the inconveniences of having to come down from our cars to open the barrier gate ourselves. 

        In the first place, the community is never a gated community; it is a guarded community and anyone forming a resident association can start a security scheme and collect money. I have seen with my own eyes how ineffective the security guards are when it comes to catching a fleeing criminal. After all, why should they risk their lives? 

What I think has gone wrong

        I want to suggest the reason why all these cases have gone to the courts instead of being resolved amicably is because we have weak leadership at the Selangor State Exco.

        In these cases, the Selangor Menteri Besar of Selangor Amirudin Shari and the State Exco in charge of local government Ng Sze Han should be involved in resolving the problems. 

        Why, for example, despite the Khoo's case becoming a case of public interest, neither Amirudin nor Ng intervene to resolve the matter amicably? Why did they keep silent and allow things to go awry and now many of the dog lovers are up in arm against both MBPJ and the state government. 

        Also, if MBPJ fails to appeal its case to the apex court, would the state exco, for example, step in to instruct the City Council to proceed with the appeal? If not, would the Menteri Besar himself ensure that MBPJ does that? 

        Or, are we seeing Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burnt?

        We will be watching to see what happens in the next course of action. Their failure to do what is right from the moment a problem takes place will be costly to the rakyat. 

        For example, Khoo may be sentenced to jail for trying to protect the dogs from an aggressive dog catcher. This is a precedent for future cases. 

        In the first place, since complaints had earlier been lodged to the department concerned in MBPJ, why did the director do nothing about it? 

        If the director failed to redeploy the officer, why did the state exco not intervene to resolve the matter so that it does not go this direction?

        I have personally complained to both Amirudin and Ng on a number of issues relating to the local council, but for nearly three years, they neither came down to the ground nor did they lift a finger to respond to the complaints or seek to resolve them well. 

        Even a simple thing as humps built with a steeper slope that hit the bottom deck of our cars, it took three years before the newly-elected Member of Parliament, Gobind Singh, to resolve it. Why?

        I remember years ago when Ronnie Liu was holding the same position, he intervened in a conflict involving the MBPJ and some members of the public. The matter did not have to go to the courts. It was resolved immediately. 

        Another complaint which I raised with Liu was over some fruit stalls appearing on the carparks of a main road, although reluctantly, Liu relocated them to a more suitable place. Now, in my area, more fruit stalls and car wash operators are turning the place into one big mess, and complaints have gone to Gobind, yet nothing is being done to clear the mess. 

        You judge for yourself why we are having so many issues, apart from the apparent sabotages in some cases.