Far from offering a waterproof theory, inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar had claimed that the guns missing from the police force may have fallen into the sea. Right,  any right thinking person will say that is a load of crap. He just does not take responsibility for this criminal negligence. How on earth did this guy get to be IGP?

Khalid’s explanation that the 44 missing weapons were not used by criminals is really pathetic and moronic. “Ballistic reports show that none of them have been used by criminals,” he said. Does he have any inkling of accountability? The IGP wants to be a leader, seriously, I do not think he is  prepared to accept the accountability that goes with his job. But you can’t have one without the other. They are two sides of the same coin. But what does accountability look like?

 First and foremost, it means that you accept responsibility for the outcomes expected of you - both good and bad. You don’t blame others. And you don’t blame the external environment.

There are always things you could have done - or still can do - to change the outcome. Until you take responsibility, you are a victim. And being a victim is the exact opposite of being a leader. Victims are passive. They are acted upon. Leaders are active. They take initiative to influence the outcome. That is what our IGP is, a pathetic victim.

Once you take  responsibility, you can begin fixing the problem. This eliminates a lot of wasted effort in playing the victim and blaming others and the environment. The problem with our IGP is that he thinks he and his bunch of incompetents are above the law. 

Remember his performance in the death of Aminulrasyid Amzah, Khalid, who was then Selangor chief police officer, said that the schoolboy was a criminal, a thug, because he supposedly had a parang in his car.

This one took the cake. In the A Kugan case, when a person of his rank testifying in court attempted to suppress the truth to escape liability. In his first statement to the media after Kugan’s death, Khalid had said that Kugan collapsed and died after drinking water. In the next media statement, Khalid had said that Kugan died of water in the lungs. Is he covering up again for the missing 44 guns?

 Allow me to relate a couple of incidents which happened in the Army. The first case was when we were doing an assault river crossing in Kota Belud whilst on the Young Officers Tactics course, we were crossing this fast flowing river with packs and carrying our rifles in batches. We were hooked onto a nylon rope, which was laid across the river, with a hip sheet and karabiners.

We had to lie flat with our faces down and pull ourselves. It sounds safe, but one could still drown due to unforeseen circumstance. Anyway it came to the turn of a young Chinese officer (2nd Lieutenant) from the Armoured Corps, somehow his rifle slipped off  him and was lost.

The commandant of the training centre did not say, “fell into the river”, and life went on as though nothing got lost. Hours and days were spent looking in and alongside the river banks. Even a bomoh was paid to locate the rifle. It was never found.

No getting away with carelessness

 Did the young officer get away with his carelessness? Dream on, that never happens in the Army! An official ‘board of inquiry’ was held, headed by officers, who called in all the witnesses. The young officer was found negligent and charged. He lost three months of his seniority. He did not pay for the rifle, paying for it is the easy way out. The army does not allow that.

 Another case, we were conducting ‘Operations Hentam Galas’. The platoon commander, a young Malay 2nd Lieutenant, was conducting a long range patrol, where elements of the 10th Regiment Communist Party of Malaya (our enemy) was operating around the Wias/Gua Musang area. That area was hilly and the terrain was tough, the slopes were muddy and slippery. It was during the Monsoon Season.

One of the members while negotiating a steep incline fell, holding onto his light machine gun, he rolled down the hill pack and all. He did not get injured, after the patrol returned to base, he discovered that a magazine containing 30 rounds of ammunition was missing. He reported it to the platoon commander, who immediately went out again with the same patrol to the place where the soldier fell.

They searched that area for two continuous days, in fact they moved camp to that location.  On the second day he reported the loss to his company commander. After the operations were over when they returned back to ‘civilisation’, a ‘board of inquiry’, was conducted. The platoon commander was found guilty, not the soldier. He lost three months’ seniority after being charged based on the findings of the inquiry. Yes, with command comes responsibility.

 There was a rafting expedition conducted along the Perak river by an army unit. The raft overturned at a confluence where the currents were strong. A prismatic compass went missing, a ‘board of inquiry’ was conducted. The chairperson was me. No one was faulted and the compass was written off against public funds. You see, the military has the gumption to conduct itself with responsibility, without playing the blame game.

The military also applies command responsibility for its commanders on the battlefield. The police commanders too should be held accountable for custodial deaths, and loss of equipment which the  Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) could cover. So tell me again why am I so crass?