MIRI: The Royal Malaysia Police should give some leeway to allow Ibans with tattoo to join the force.
This is because adorning their bodies with tattoo is part of Iban culture and tradition, said ex-police officer Peter Bong, 64, from Miri.
He lamented that many aspiring Iban youths could not join the force as they were found to have traditional tattoos on their bodies during their interview.
“We want the government to be more flexible to Iban youths with traditional Iban tattoos who wish to join the police force,” he said to The Borneo Post yesterday.
He said it is sad to see many young Ibans with tattoos rejected by the police, and becoming jobless after completing Form 5 and Form 6.
One reason, he opined, was that recruitment officers, especially from the peninsula, could not identify traditional Iban tattoos from those associated with gangsters.
A popular Iban tattoo is the ‘Bunga Terong’, he pointed out.
“We are sure that Iban tattoos do not pose danger to internal security. Those with Iban tattoos have been serving the police, Field Force and the army,” he said.
Sharing the same view, Julis Edwin, 52, said many Ibans serving in the Field Force and the army during the Emergency had tattoos.
Having tattoos, he said, show that they are warriors among the community, which was illustrated by the courageous act of Iban policemen during the fight against the communists.
If police fear that they are bad characters, they could check their records to see if they had committed crimes instead of discriminating them just because they had tattoos, he argued.
Meanwhile, Iban community leader Pemanca Wilson Siang Lim said he could not understand why Iban youths failed their interviews just because of traditional tattoos.
However, he agreed that those with modern tattoos that look aggressive must not be considered as police men.
“We hope PDRM can consider the appeal of the Iban community that have shown their sincerity to the country even during the Emergency, where they were at the forefront in defending Malaysia,” he stressed.