Walking the path

More crazy things in Malaysian Newspaper… I am getting a reverse cultural shock!

Somebody apparently capture a video of a naked Chinese Woman performing ear squats while in police custody. A police woman can be seen in the background standing with her hands on her hips, over looking this “performance”!

What a disturbing image! More so, when it happens in a country that is proud of her culture and “strong” moral view. We are supposed to trust the police, to protect the public! But some black sheep among them have let us down again, humiliating a young foreign girl while under police custody. Does it not remind us about the abuse of the Iraqi detainees by American Soldiers (picture and story in link). Rightly so, some of the soldiers were later prosecuted.

More disturbing than the video clip were the comments made by the some top police officers (as reported in The Star).

“It is the perpetrator behind the video clip whom we are after and not the policewoman, who was carrying out a routine check,”

“Strip search is an effective way to ensure that no foreign object is brought into the police lock-up, adding that in the past, some suspects had tried to hide cigarettes, pills, matchsticks and razor blades in their private parts”

There are 3 issues here…

1. Strip searching is a routine??? I wonder how necessary this is… Maybe Malaysia can be the first to introduce strip searching of all Airline passengers before boarding, just in case some of them do carry razor blades in their private parts, Or maybe we should also strip search all passenger arriving at KLIA just incase some do hide drugs in their private parts while entering this country. Hmmm… or have we got the technology which can detect metals and drugs without compromising our modesty?

2. Well… Strip searching maybe routine; is Ear Squats part of the “routine” check?? Have the High Ranking Police Officer investigating this case totally missed the point? This policewoman seems to be abusing her power against a vulnerable young girl under police custody. Does ear squats expose any more of the “hiding places” that cannot be examine by Strip Searching? Folk tales said that someone smuggled a razor under the armpit into police lockup….

3. The police are probably right to go after the person who videoed this incident. The person seems to have done this to satisfy his voyeurism. Without knowing much of the details, we cannot rule out that this person might have film this incidence to expose such “routine” practice in the Malaysian police lockup. The public should thank this person. Without this video in the media, we may never know that such shocking incidence do happen in our own country.

On the brighter side, some of our leaders seem to have a clear head. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said “stripping and asking foreign visitors to do ear squats should not happen at all in a civilized country”. Well done sir!

Whilst the police seem to be more interested in charging the person who filmed this incident; what is more pertinent is that the treatment of detainees under police custody should also be scrutinized. Thus there is a necessity to set up an independent body to investigate the later issue. We need to reestablish public confidence in the police force, and to restore our image in the eyes of the international community.

What is next to SHOCK me?

I have just arrived home in Malaysia,
after spending many years in Belfast.
Open up The Star newspaper, thinking of updating myself with the current issues
in Malaysia.
I read with horror, the story of a Cardiothoracic Surgeon (who is also a
Professor in University Malaya) slapping a female anesthetist… What surprised
me more is the comments mad by the UMCC director on the incident.

Apparently, this Professor of Surgery slapped a female
anesthetist medical officer, in theater with his gloved hand during surgery. It
was reported that his gloves were bloody, contaminated with patient’s body
fluid. The anesthetist fought back and broke the surgeon’s glasses.

What a nightmare! It is abused of junior medical staff! It
is assault. It is a criminal offence! What a disgrace to the medical
profession, that a Professor of Surgery behaved in such a manner. 

It was reported that some Medical Officers later refuse to
work with this Surgeon after this incident. I would have refused to be any
where near this barbarian. He should be behind the bars not in theater.

Interestingly, the UMMC director responded that “we will
resolve this matter…. There is no such thing as doctors not wanting to work
with this surgeon!” Hah! That is such a joke! Is he condoning this SamSeng behavior? Obviously this matter needs to be
sorted, but the right thing to do here is to suspend the Surgeon from all his
duty until police investigation is completed. He should be struck of the
medical registry if proven guilty.

Sigh… if the Malaysian Authority does not take appropriate
actions, there is still a long way before we can achieve a civilized society. 

P.S. I wonder if that patient who was being operated on during
this saga survived to leave Malaysia’s Top University Hospital.