• NO MORE GOODWILL?: The sign barring the reporters from the police headquarters is still at the gate.

Tiong believed that the police, by shying away from the media, were in fact keeping away from the people.

“The media is the bridge of goodwill between the people and the government, and the police need this understanding to command a good police-public cooperation in fighting crime,” he said.

He pointed out that even the Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan was open to reporters, and the MP was shocked to learn that Sibu police had shut their doors on the local media.

Speaking to The Borneo Post when Sibu pressmen called on him in Bintulu last Sunday, Tiong, who is also a Justice of the Peace, feared that the people would be victimised when there was a blackout of the crime situation in Sibu.

“The people have the right to know and get information from the media,” he said, adding that was why police in Bukit Aman were friendly towards the reporters and public.

“They are all enhancing their image in the ‘mesra’ spirit,” he pointed out.

He was sad that the media-police relationship in Sibu had deteriorated at a time when Bukit Aman police were concerned about the security and gangsterism problems in Sarawak.

Tiong then pointed out that arson cases involving the hurling of Molotov cocktails into people’s houses had mushroomed again.

“The problem is that there are so many cases that the people have become immune to the crime.
“I am sad that because of this, the people have responded coldly to the police. What have the Sibu police done to correct the situation?” he asked.

Tiong said he had received a lot of complaints from the public on this; “so much so that being the SPDP liaison office in Central Sarawak, I can no longer keep quiet”.

It was important for the Sibu police to maintain their goodwill with the people, he said.

He said the police could not “close their heart”. “There must always be mutual understanding, and there must be ways to iron out differences,” he said.

As the voice of the people, he hoped the media would maintain their professional ethics.
Tiong, who is also the SPDP youth chief, said there were mainly three areas of complaint from the people.

“Firstly, the counter service of the police is unfriendly. Some people feel it when they lodge their reports. Secondly, the police have not responded promptly to a crime situation when a report is lodged. Thirdly, the people are tired with the Molotov cocktails and other violent incidents,” he said.

Tiong said these problems would bring down the image of the police. “How can the people have confident in them again, and how can they believe the police will protect them?” he asked.

He said the people would expect police to perform better now that they had being given pay hike.
“Some complain that when they lodged their reports the policemen made them feel as if they had burdened them (policeman),” said Tiong.

He said in a case, a member of the public lodged a report at 5am but policemen only “rushed” to the scene at 9am.

He said there were good and hardworking police officers in Sibu, and they should not let a few bad apples spoiled their name.

Tiong now understood why some members of the public were reluctant to give information to the police judging from the complaints he had received.

“Instead of acting on this information, some policemen will ask the informants a lot of questions as if they are interrogating them, and such unfriendly attitude scares the people away.”

He called on the police to put themselves in the shoes of the complainants. “If you walk into a police station to lodge a report on a housebreaking theft, you end up being “interrogated”. Will you ever want to report again?” he asked.