KUALA LUMPUR: A clinical psychologist has stepped out to defend the men in blue following the shooting death of teenager Aminulrasyid Amzah.
Professor Dr Teoh Hsien-Jin, once an officer in the Territorial Army, said it was a clear-cut case -- Aminulrasyid was at fault and that the police were just discharging their duties.
“The situation has been blown out of proportion,” said Teoh, who is now the head of the School of Natural Health and Sciences in Sunway University College.
“People are overlooking a most important issue, which is that a minor was behind the wheel. As far as the law is concerned, he was in the wrong.”
According to him, Selangor's crime rate has risen and additional police personnel have been deployed in the state who are primed to immediately react to any perceived threat.
“A speeding car pursued by a group of motorcyclists in the dead of night fits the bill,” said Teoh. “A lot of violence takes place after midnight.”
“And police on this shift are usually armed with automatic firearms because they don't know what they will be up against.
“The usual procedure is to pull a suspicious car over and shine a torchlight inside, but they didn't have a chance to do that in this case. So, they opened fire,” added Teoh.
“An automatic weapon sprays bullets. It is likely that a stray one hit the boy. I have handled firearms before and I can tell you an object moving quickly in the dark is almost impossible to shoot at.
“You just have to react and that is what the police did. They did not shoot to kill,” said Teoh.
Why was a minor driving a car?
Teoh, who was also a Search and Rescue Base Warden in Australia, said cases of minors operating vehicles are becoming rampant all over the world.
He recalled a particular incident in Australia when a group of people took a ferry for a joyride and crashed it into his base.
“People are capable of all kinds of madness,” he said. “We usually get angry when the police don't do anything to stop this madness. But in this case they acted and now they are being condemned for it.”
“The questions that should be asked are: Why was a minor driving a car? Why was another minor in the car and did he also take to the wheel?
“From my experience, the passenger always wants to have a go, too. And where did they learn to drive? A lot of crimes are caused by civilian negligence,” he said.
Teoh empathised with Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan who has been slammed for threatening to take his men off the streets following public outrage over the shooting of Aminulrasyid.
“He is frustrated. The police are understaffed and underpaid. The fact that this matter has become highly politicised is making them angrier. I really don't blame the police for any of this.”
On the special panel set up to conduct an inquiry into the case, Teoh has his doubts. “What would it (the panel) uncover that the police haven't already?” he asked.
“We like to use the word 'independent' but what does that really mean? The panel will be going over the same reports, the same witnesses and the same facts.”
“There will just be more chaos and I'm intrigued to see how all this will end.”
1 comment:
let's all write in to Sunway to comment on the conduct of their head of department. It is horrifying that he is voicing out his opinion from such a narrow perspective. Perhaps he should be glad that he was not being shot at when speeding on highway because with his (il)logic - he will be at fault for tempting the policeman to fire at him. *shakes head* nono.. not the police's fault.
Post a Comment