FIRST of all, I would like to wish all readers a Happy New Year. May 2004 bring peace and prosperity to the world and this country.
Thus far, in addition to physical development, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is also serious in wanting to enhance the quality of life, physically and spiritually, for all Malaysians.
One of his priorities is to create a safer environment for the populace. However, I think it is also the wish of the nation to see the Government more involved in cracking down on a more serious problem – the drug addicts and the danger they bring.
There is evidence that drug addicts are still terrorising the country. They are everywhere, from the peaceful villages to the busy cities.
In Bukit Tunku? No. Almost all the houses there are walled up to protect the owners from intruders. At some houses, I think, the walls and gates cost more than the houses.
On the other hand, would it be any safer if you built your house in the remote Kg Sungai Lui in Hulu Langat, Selangor?
I don’t think so. The drug addicts are even worse in the villages. They roam and terrorise the villages in broad daylight.
Nothing is spared from these drug addicts – not even the pucuk paku (edible ferns), bananas and chickens.
You may wake up in the morning to find you have no kettle to boil the water or no frying pan to make your lempeng (pancake).
Worse still, the cooking gas tank is also gone. The cooking gas tank is a favourite among drug addicts. It is expensive yet easy to carry.
All the addicts need to do is to redeem the tank at the gas dealer and claim back the deposits.
The kitchen utensils (or anything made of metal like steel, aluminium or copper) are also favourites among the drug addicts.
These could easily be sold to the scrap metal dealers. In the worst-case scenario, these drug addicts are capable of committing more serious offences, including murders.
We had learnt from the media how a woman bomoh (traditional healer) in Perak was found strangled to death in her own house.
Her drug addict son was remanded to facilitate the murder investigation. Another bone-chilling incident happened in Klang.
A 70-year-old father was allegedly slashed to death by his son. The reason was he refused to give his son RM5.
Many road accidents (some were fatal) also involved drug-addicted motorists. I do not know how these drivers
could spend the rest of their lives knowing that their errors had caused injuries and even deaths to many.
So, what is the moral of the story? Drug addicts are dangerous to the society and need to be put away. We need to be harsher in dealing with them.
We have been very lenient with the drug addicts. I asked some villagers why there were so many drug addicts
in the villages.
The answer given revealed their frustration. They were tired of making reports to the authorities. They said, in many cases, the addicts would be out again roaming the villages within a short while.
Therefore, they have stopped reporting them. Hardcore addicts must be put away, with minimum possible expenditure, for a long time.
We are spending too much of taxpayers’ money to rehabilitate the addicts who are not serious in getting back to a normal and healthy life. So, what are we going to do with them? I will tell you what. This is something practical that we could learn from our former colonial masters.
Find a remote island and dump the drug addicts there. Make sure no supply of any drug is available on the island.
Of course, to defend ourselves from being labelled as cruel and inhuman, we can ensure the addicts are taught various skills while on the island.
What sickens me is that we, the rest of the society, have always been blamed. We are accused of being less tolerant and accepting towards so-called rehabilitated addicts.
Just because they feel that members of the society are always suspicious of them, they have to go back to their
old habit.
What a clever and nice idea – blame us for everything! We have to bear in mind that the ball is in their court. They have to prove to us they are worth given another chance to join the society.
Do not expect us to welcome them back into our society and let them explore where we keep our valuables and kitchen utensils.
Representing the rest of the society, I would like to make an appeal to the Government. Please take immediate and harsher actions to solve the drug addiction problem.
Our request is simple: We just want our normal and peaceful lives back, free from these drug addicts.
If we want to attract foreign investments into the country, besides providing good education, eradicating the drug addicts is another way forward.
The era of the so-called “soft-method” of rehabilitation is over.