Crime in DAP area on the rise

Jittery Sibu residents want better enforcement to ensure security

SIBU: Residents as well as leaders from different sides of the political divide are worried about the recent spate of murder cases here.
Just two days after the burial of four members of a family who were killed in their home, yet another murder occurred yesterday.
This time, a 42-year-old businessman was gunned down at about 10.30am at the entrance of an office equipment supply shop in Brooke Drive.
Last Oct 20 in Sungai Empawah across the Igan River, rubber smallholder Tiong Tang Ming, 69, his son Tiong King, 35, and daughter-in-law Teu Lee Meng, 32, were murdered while Tang Ming’s wife Peh Kim Eng survived by pretending to be dead.

Traumatised: Lau’s mother being comforted by relatives at the scene.

Some two months later on Dec 10, salon employee Chew Ming Chew was hacked to death while she was waiting for a ferry to return home at 8.30pm at the Tanjong Maling ferry point.
Then last Tuesday, at between 7am and 7.30am, 36-year old businessman Ling Tong Hock was killed together with his son David Ling Chei Qi, 10, daughter Amy Ling Zi Jiun, seven, and his 76-year old mother Leong Nyuk at their home in 1H Lorong RTM13B.
Another eight-year son, however, survived but suffered serious injuries to the head.
Consumer Association of Sibu chairman Simon Tiong said following last Tuesday’s murders, residents here were living in fear.
“The Lings were just normal people, like you and I. This makes people feel that if this could happen to the Lings, it could also happen to them. Talks have been rife in town.”

He said from his conversation with the police two weeks ago, it was shocking to learn that some of those in the enforcement units “only have licence to see and watch things happen as they have no real power to act as the power lies with the police only”.

The location: The shooting took place on the ground floor of this building.

These enforcement units, which he declined to reveal, should be given the same power so that they could help in crime prevention.
He said police should also act on every case, even minor ones such as theft and burglary as small cases might snowball to bigger ones.
“The public here is also responsible for the security of the town, not just the police,” Simon added.
A businessman, who declined to be named, said there was a lack of coordination among the government agencies as far as security of the town was concerned.
“We need to get to the root of the problem fast or else the security of the town will get worse.”
He added that these agencies, together with the police, needed to take a holistic approach to ensure peace and stability here.
“They need to first predict and then prevent crime from happening. Those whose work involved looking after the security of the town must be dedicated and committed to the work.
“When this can be done, it will not result in a blame game each time a major crime happens,” he said.
Acknowledging that the police were doing their best, he said they should keep the public informed whenever a crime case was solved instead of keeping them in the dark.
He lamented that Sibu was now a “sick society” where residents had lost their spiritual life, placing instead material value as priority. “Not only that, social etiquette and civic-mindedness are also on the decline.”
“Teachers and parents need to come together to help form good family institutions for a disciplined society.”
State DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng said: “When I arrived (at the crime scene in Brooke Drive), people immediately complained to me about what’s happening to the security of the town.”
“The Federal Government has an obligation to beef up the police force here. The ratio of the police to the number of people here now is not good.
“A good ratio is one policeman looking after 255 people but here, the ratio is 1:500. Apart from that, not all policemen are deployed to look after security as they are also looking after other things.
“I have read in the newspapers that about 200 Rela personnel are being deployed to look after security. What is their training? What is their background? We don’t know. They are not trained to look after security at all. So they are of no help,” Wong said.
He said people should not resort to shooting, regardless of the background of the victims.
Wong said firearms were now easily available from across the border. “I heard it very often, people are able to get guns from jalan tikus. Something is very wrong with security in Sibu,” he said.
A concerned Sibu SUPP chairman Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh said he would meet with the police chief soon before making any statement.