theSun | MONDAY DECEMBER 1 2008
speak up!
The prime minister seemed
to be getting our drift. After all,
he wanted us to be candid and
we obliged. The body language
was for us to interpret. “The
AG’s Chambers is facing a
shortage of staff,” he said.
But then, people are drawn
to the private sector because
of the low salaries and career
advancement.
“Some of our reporters earn
more than our magistrates,”
we ventured. But more
importantly, should we
not get the Bar to assist in
prosecutions. In Australia
and Britain, barristers are
assigned cases by the Crown
Prosecution Service in which
they act as prosecutors, acting
on behalf and paid for by the
state. Would this not solve the
manpower problems?
The prime minister got
the message but did not offer
any comments. He seemed
letter
letters@thesundaily.com
Are we prepared
for a terror attack?
AS THE world watched in horror
the Mumbai attacks last week, I
was left wondering how prepared
our authorities were to deal with
such incidents? One may be for-
given for saying that our country
would not be a target as we are a
peaceful nation and our govern-
ment maintains good diplomatic
relationships with many countries,
but it remains imperative that
we don’t take this “freedom” for
granted and that drastic measures
are taken immediately to raise the
security protocols of our country.
It was obvious that Mumbai
was unprepared for such well
organised attacks and the sophis-
ticated firepower of the militants.
It is important to note that
India is a nuclear power with a
billion people and commands a
huge security force. If India can
be attacked, I believe any country
is vulnerable, irrespective of its
diplomatic relationships.
Terrorists do not think of the
repercussions but execute their
tasks based on personal agendas
and ideologies, most of which
we might never understand or
anticipate.
Security is paramount in a
multiracial society like ours and it
is important that the government
enlightens the people on the kind
of contingency plans it has. Are
the people prepared? Are the
security forces prepared?
One should observe the daily
lives of an average Malaysian to
understand the huge vulnerabili-
ties our country is exposed to in
terms of security.
There are huge numbers of
illegal immigrants in our country of
which we know very little and care
much less about. Nobody knows
13
Frank and free ... Abdullah
with Nadeswaran and
Fernandez last Tuesday
to be in agreement with our
observation – an assumption
many would argue that it
would be wrong.
All said, we should be
thankful to him for giving
journalists more room to
express our thoughts and those
of the rakyat. We made that
no secret – we thanked him
not for the “freedom” that the
media had enjoyed over the
past five years, but for giving
us an opportunity to tell it as
it is – responsibly sans the
frills, bombastic words and the
flowery language.
R. Nadeswaran and Terence
Fernandez spent two hours
over lunch with the prime
minister expressing their
candid views on a wide array
of subjects. Watch out for the
interview. Send comments to:
citizen-nades@thesundaily.com.
where these people are and little
is done to trace them. They pose
a national security threat. Anyone
who boards a Komuter train would
notice that it is crowded and thus
it becomes an easy target for any-
one wanting to launch an attack,
just like in any other country. The
only difference is that in Malaysia,
anyone can board a train without
being checked, this exacerbates
the problem. There are no security
personnel at stations, whether
LRT or the Komuter. Passengers
can bring in anything they want.
It must be noted that security
around KLIA was only beefed up
after a spectacular robbery earlier
this year. Does this mean that in
our country, we will only react
when something happens? Our
crowded shopping malls are also
vulnerable.
I would like to propose certain
measures:
» Security personnel be sta-
tioned at all exit and entry points
of busy train stations;
» Patrons of shopping malls
and other popular hangouts be
monitored closely;
» More security cameras be
installed at these places and
“monitored”;
» Immediate steps be taken to
deport illegal immigrants;
» A select committee be formed
to monitor and reassess the
status of our national security and
the findings be presented to the
public; and
» A vulnerabilities risk assess-
ment report be compiled on the
level of threats and the findings
be made public
Rajiv Nambiar
Kuala Lumpur