Are demos in peninsula more dangerous than kidnappings in Sabah?

If they can mobilise the GOF, FRU, Bukit Aman federal police and other units as well as put several army battalions on standby against rallies, maybe it’s time they did even just half as much to help keep our citizens in Sabah safe..

Malaysia awoke to news of another kidnapping by gunmen in Sabah on May 6, rekindling the one important question as to whether the government is actually doing everything it can to keep our rakyat in East Malaysia safe.

Chinese national Yang Zailin, a fish farm manager, was abducted by gunmen near Pulau Babi in Lahad Datu.

This was one day after fishermen were robbed at a location nearby, and two months after another Chinese national was abducted from a diving resort in March.

Thinking about the resources available to police forces in keeping safe the affected areas there against the backdrop of massive mobilisation every time there is a popular rally in Kuala Lumpur like Bersih, I wonder if our government's priorities are in order.

If I am not mistaken, there is only one battalion of the General Operations Force there but not under the command of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) until there is an emergency, meaning they are not employed in security operations.

Are demonstrations expressing legitimate democratic dissent a more clear and present danger to the rakyat than the threat of being kidnapped at will by gunmen who infiltrate our borders?

Speaking of infiltration by gunmen, this reminds me about the resources Malaysia expanded to keep the rakyat safe from the Communist insurgents.

Even though I was too young to have experienced the heydays of the Communist Emergency, growing up at the tail end of the 80's still afforded me some memories of those times when the Tiga Bintang still plague our jungles and borders.

The most iconic image for me were the defensive positions manned by armed personnel from the Police Field Force, the precursor to the GOF, and Wataniah infantry regiments along highways which I would glimpse as we drove past in the family car during trips to distant parts.

To this day, I can still remember my excitement at seeing with my own eyes the proud defenders of our nation, keeping the populace safe from harm.

Indeed, as I now learned, it was part of the national strategy at the time to use the paramilitary branch of the police and specially activated Wataniah reserves to guard crucial areas threatened by what remained of the Communist insurgency by then.

At that time, the Police Field Force was a jungle fighting force in all but name, assisting the actual RAMD platoons deployed to hound out, capture and eliminate the insurgents.

It was not only about visibility but also to maintain effective control of key areas to restrict the insurgents and keep the rakyat safe.

Much like the gunmen who commonly infiltrate into Sabah to do their dark deeds, the Communist insurgents then were moving in small groups through isolated terrain, slipping in and out of populated areas.

The answer then was the use of strategic static posts at heavily trafficked or populated areas and dynamic small unit patrols in identified areas to flush them out. A strategy that may perhaps be still useful for Sabah.

This means keeping a large body of troops available for security and deterrence operations - something which our police force in Sabah perhaps do not have.

As reports from assemblypersons continue to pour in on resources denied for not only Esscom but the local police forces who are doing the actual security patrols.

Not only do they lack manpower, they also lack equipment like boats to patrol the islands. As one assemblyperson asked, should they swim to patrol the islands then?

While the government might argue that they have established Esscom to keep the peace, it is until today no more than a public relations exercise with the only extra posting being a few officers and men for its headquarters, not for security operations.

I think it is time that for the government to rethink its strategies and look at redeploying the police forces necessary at keeping Malaysians in Sabah safe, especially in the affected areas, as much as they would move heaven and earth to prepare against pro-electoral reform rallies.

If they can mobilise the GOF, the FRU, Bukit Aman federal police and other units as well as put several army battalions on standby against rallies, maybe it’s time they did even just half as much to help keep our citizens in Sabah safe.

The Ant Daily