KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is still safe, said Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) executive council member Tan Sri Datuk Robert Phang, but he cautioned the people to be alert of suspicious strangers.
“I’ve interviewed senior police officers in this State and West Malaysia, so far Sabah is still a very nice place.
“Sabah is not really that bad. You still have petty theft and house breaking, but house breaking can be prevented,” he said in a press conference here yesterday.
He urged the public to report any suspicious persons to the nearest police station.
Phang said crime rates have surged in terms of organized crime and shooting since the Emergency Ordinance (EO) was repealed.
He likened the 2,017 persons detained for two years under the EO to attending ‘a university’ where they were thought about what they would do (when they are released).
When the detainees were released a year ago, Phang claimed that crime rates, house burglary and shooting cases have spiked.
He added that he was against sending juveniles into lock-up because they would be brainwashed and became followers of the criminals when they were freed.
Phang added that the first reading of the new legislation to replace the EO would take place in Parliament in September this year.