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Anwar calls for action to stop ‘daily’ shootings

KUALA LUMPUR — In comments made a day after two fatal shootings were reported in Malaysia, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called yesterday for immediate action to stop “spiralling” crime in Malaysia, warning that the recent violence, including contract-style assassinations, had become a “daily” occurrence.

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Photo: AP

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Photo: AP

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KUALA LUMPUR — In comments made a day after two fatal shootings were reported in Malaysia, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called yesterday for immediate action to stop “spiralling” crime in Malaysia, warning that the recent violence, including contract-style assassinations, had become a “daily” occurrence.

“This spiralling incidence of serious crime, shootings should warrant immediate action on the part of the minister-in-charge and the IGP (Inspector-General of Police) because it is virtually a daily occurrence,” Mr Anwar told reporters.

Warning against turning the issue into a “political ploy (by) blaming the opposition”, Mr Anwar was quoted by the Malaysia Chronicle website as saying. “This is a concerted effort. I issued a statement suggesting there should be a bipartisan meeting between BN (Barisan Nasional) Members of Parliament, the government and also the opposition to work out and discuss ways and means to tackle the crime issues. It is not a matter of a spate of violence but a daily occurrence. Most are reported, but some are not reported, the smaller shootings.”

Saturday saw two shootings in different parts of the country. A businessman from Kuching, Sarawak, died at night in hospital, after being shot at close range in a car park in front of a restaurant in Beverly Hills, Penampang, near Kota Kinabalu. Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib identified the victim as Teong Choon Kwong, 44, who operated a resort in Dinawan, Sabah.

Earlier on the same day, a 36-year-old man who had just been released from prison last month was shot dead in the living room of a house in Cheras, a suburb in Kuala Lumpur. Balamurali Balakrishnan was shot four times in the chest by two suspects who fled in a Proton Iswara car.

The capital city saw the brutal killing of Arab-Malaysian Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi, 75, on July 29, who was gunned down in broad daylight in central Kuala Lumpur, together with his wife, who survived the attack with serious injuries. The police have previously said they were hunting for contract killers, according to reports.

Other shooting incidents included a gold trader who survived an attack on Friday and an anti-crime activist who is in hospital waiting for a bullet to be surgically removed, after a drive-by shooting. The attack on the Chairman of the MyWatch group, Mr R Sri Sanjeevan, was the first in the recent chain of shootings.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has called on the authorities to restore public confidence and use all existing laws to remedy the security situation.

Some media organisations in Singapore are “jealous” of Malaysia in respect of the recent assassination attempts in Malaysia, the Utusan Malaysia newspaper claimed yesterday, according to the Malaysiakini news portal.

In Awang Selamat’s column, believed to be penned by the daily’s senior editors, it said The New Paper (TNP) was carried away by an overly competitive spirit against Malaysia when it published an article with the headline, “Welcome to Malaysia where ... death is cheap and staying alive costly”.

“I hope Malaysians would not be bothered much by the report, just understand the fate of the newspapers there (in Singapore). They can’t criticise — never mind condemn — their (own) government, hence a neighbouring country becomes a target to sell papers,” said Awang.

The July 31 article had quoted a Kuala Lumpur-based private investigator as saying it costs about RM5,000 (S$1,950) to hire a contract killer. Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said recently that the paper had published what he claimed was a misleading and sensational headline.

TNP editor Dominic Nathan was previously reported as saying it was regrettable that the front-page headline was deemed insulting.

“It was not our intent. We wanted to draw our readers’ attention to the threat of gun violence in Malaysia,” he said, adding that what was reported was also “covered extensively in the Malaysian media”. AGENCIES

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