Malaysians Say The Darndest Things!

Malaysia Is Safe. We Just Need To Think It Is.

December 1, 2008

While the public was increasingly worried by the rise in crime, statistics however showed that the crime rate in Malaysia was far lower than Japan and Hong Kong, said Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

“Based on the statistics given by the police, it indicates that the crime rate in Malaysia is lower than Japan and Hong Kong.

“It is also just slightly higher than Singapore to the basis of per hundred thousand of population… but the perception of the public is not the case,” said Najib at a press conference in Parliament after the economic council meeting.

– Malaysiakini

May I remind DPM Najib, our soon to be 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia that changing of perception does not change reality.

Imagine the increased number of snatch thefts if people started taking the security of their bags for granted, due to an altered perception that Malaysia is safe. Or the increase in the number of rapes and assault if women had the perception that the country was safe and did not arm themselves with some knowledge of self-defense.

Look into my eyes and believe me. Statistics do not lie.

Also, it is easy for the police to claim that officially, crime is higher in Hong Kong and Japan per 100,000 people. That’s because they are telling the truth.

# of crimes per 1000 people
#34 Japan: 19.177 per 1,000 people
#43 Hong Kong: 11.6817 per 1,000 people
#50 Malaysia: 6.97921 per 1,000 people

The untold story is of course, the rankings do not mention what crimes are tabulated into the statistics (crimes that do not affect a person’s personal safety like white collar crime are probably included, thus the higher rates in HK or Japan). We could also argue on the effectiveness of enforcement, but let’s just put that aside. So let’s be slightly more objective and look at some of the crimes that cause us to have a negative perception on crime in this country:

# of murders per 1000 people
#34 Malaysia: 0.0230034 per 1,000 people
#59 Hong Kong: 0.00550804 per 1,000 people
#60 Japan: 0.00499933 per 1,000 people

# of rapes per 1000 people
#38 Malaysia: 0.0505156 per 1,000 people
#54 Japan: 0.017737 per 1,000 people
#55 Hong Kong: 0.0150746 per 1,000 people

When compared that way, the statistics given by the police and comparisons given by the DPM don’t seem too credible anymore does it?

All I can say is, even if the public changes their perception, it does not mean that violent crime, which has been on the rise in this country the past few years will magically disappear. The public cannot just wink their eyes, nod, and wish away all the crime.

I would certainly advise my loved ones to ignore Najib, for he really says some of the darndest things!

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