M`SIA: OPPOSITION LEADERS ASKED NOT TO BELITTLE SECURITY FORCES

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar
Tuesday urged the opposition parties not to belittle the security forces because
they are the enforcement agencies responsible for safeguuarding peace and
security in the country.

He said they should criticise if there were any shortcomings and action
would be taken if the criticisms had basis but they shold not politicise the
matter.

"I hope that the opposition parties will not simply belittle everyone. I
see
all sorts of people running us down.

"If something is good, say so. If it's not, criticise and we will rectify
it. We admit that not everything is perfect. I accept that. We got problem and
we intend to tackle it but please don't condemn all the time," he told reporters
after the ministry's monthly gathering here.

He was asked to comment on the attitude of opposition leader Lim Kit Siang
who is said to be constantly questioning the credibilty of the security
ofrces.

Syed Hamid said Lim should act maturely and not condemn the security forces
just to become popular.

He did not deny that there were cases which were difficult to solve but
said
that if this became the focus to belittle the security forces it would not help
in confidence building.

"If there are unsolved cases, no police force will rest easy, especially if
they are cases involving the kidnapping of small children, and these are case
that we would want to solve but sometimes they cannot be solved," he
said.

He also said that during a financial crisis the security aspects must be
stepped up to ensure that the secret societies and the loan sharks did not
capitalise on the situation to fleece the people.

"If people are pressured, they may do things that they don't normally do so
we must continue to step up our security," he said.

-- BERNAMA