Institutional Self-anointed Moral Islamic Police

Cabinet said: NO MORE SNOOPING. DISBAND THE S**PID SQUAD... Forget about forming "snoop squads" or morality police to check on Malaysians. We are Malaysians! Don't Peep on us. We know how to behave better than the self-anointed enforcer.

This message was directed mainly at the Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi), which has formed the Putrajaya Religious Council Volunteers Squad. Malaysians are increasingly concerned over whether the country’s moderate and progressive tenor is being threatened by religious extremists and zealots.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said today: "The Cabinet disapproves of this kind of snooping around. It infringes on people’s liberty and can cause problems later like false arrests or false claims."

Radzi said. "Jawi can say the unit is meant to handle disasters, but where are there disasters in Putrajaya?"

Earlier, Jawi director Che Mat Che Ali, who unveiled the squad said the role of the volunteers would be "to prevent indecent behaviour". "We want them to approach people and advise them against creating social problems and committing sins like that." He said the volunteers would not be authorised to make arrests but an enforcement officer would accompany them on their rounds. However, an enforcement officer with the squad offered a different picture to the one sketched by Jawi. He said the squad was formed following numerous complaints from Putrajaya residents of "outsiders" committing indecent acts, especially at the Seri Wawasan bridge in Precinct 8 and the low-cost flats in Precinct 9. "The idea of the squad is to prevent Putrajaya becoming a haven for vice (tempat maksiat). "We receive complaints almost every day. Some couples, especially teenagers, are seen hugging or kissing openly at the bridge without due respect for other visitors."


The Star today reported that FT Religious Department wants to go ahead with its snoop squad

The Federal Territory Religious Department (Jawi) wants to defy the cabinet decision and will go ahead with its snoop squad. Jawi public relations officer Idris Hussein said it was not given the opportunity to explain to the Government the purpose of the unit's formation. According to Idris, “The volunteers are tasked to provide us with information on those who commit indecent acts. They are to educate the people and get closer to them so they can explain to the public why they should not be involved in unhealthy activities.” He said the department understood that there were fears that the people’s privacy might be affected, but gave an assurance that the volunteers were well-trained.

Lim Kit Siang said the snoop squad would send out the wrong message. “Why wasn't the decision to form the squad nipped in the bud at the ministry level without it having to reach the Cabinet?” he asked in a statement.

In 1995, several members from a now-defunct voluntary body called the Badan Amal Makruf Nahimunkar were arrested by Selangor police for extortion and impersonating government officers. They were considered a “moral police” group. The Federal Government then ordered the group to be disbanded.

In Malaysia, we have institutions who felt that they had been appointed by semi-god to monitor and control all other human beings because they believe Malaysians do not know how to behave decently. Such institutions even dare to defy cabinet directives. They fear no one as they believe they are god's moral enforcer. These self-anointed moral police wears uniform that resembles the uniform forces of power and acts like guardian angels. Somehow, the exercise would generates some form of reasonable income plus some funs of peeping and snooping at couples. Probably, they will also be enforcing the earsquat exercise during their rounds of duties. They would copy the preferred naked ear-squat and videotaping them for distribution and sale at Petaling Street and Imbi Plaza.