Community Need To Be Given Exposure About Whistleblower Protection Act - Analyst

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- The public needs to be given exposure to the law that provides protection to them if they report any criminal activities that occur around them in order to be more confident about security issues.

Crime Analyst Shahul Hamid Abdul Rahim said with knowledge about the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010, members of the community will feel more assured of safety and thus be able to adopt a more caring attitude towards crimes that occur around them.

“Education about the safety of informers or whistleblowers must be provided so that they will come forward to provide information...for example, they may see drug smuggling happening in front of their eyes but they are afraid to lodge a report because they feel insecured about their safety.

“Without knowing about the safety of whistleblowers, they will be afraid,” he said when appearing on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara program entitled 'Criminal Cases in Destitute, People's Security Tergutat?', which was broadcast by Bernama TV tonight.

He also emphasized the importance of local community leaders playing a role in identifying the possibility of crime in a certain place and preventing it.

“The local community is currently playing less of a role. In the old days, 10 or 20 years ago, penghulu, village heads and housing estate chairman played their role effectively to prevent crime in their respective areas,” he said.

Besides that, according to him, the mass media has a role to inform about crime that happens, how it happened and the steps that can be taken to prevent it.

“We can see now when there is a crime case, the mass media will focus on this crime and it is good because the coverage will tell the people how dangerous the crime is,” he said.

-- BERNAMA