What beast?

Child found sexually assaulted and killed

What beast would do this to another human being? What more on an innocent child? Where is the humanity in this person? The things done to this girl is so unspeakable... And to be then stuffed into a bag and left out there to be found...

What has happened to our society? Rising crime rates, sadistic rapes and mafia-style killings happen irrespective of age, race and social status. Just a few weeks ago - the story of the UTAR student raped and killed by a campus security guard came and went. And who would forget the execution-style killing of a MCA Youth leader, or the many damning reports of unbridled crime in Johor Baru.

Is it a product of the ills associated with a urban society, or just shows the impotence of our police in protecting its citizens? Perhaps it is a combination of both. Influx of both rural and foreign individuals to urban areas in search of better wages where there is little is almost always a fertile breeding ground to those tempted into crime. This is compunded by the fact that the police force is under-staffed or under-motivated to catch these criminals, where more lucrative opportunities lay elsewhere, and by a leadership under siege from within and without.

Certainly there is no quick fix to this. But it is something that must be tackled immediately if we are not to lose confidence in our own safety, even if in our own backyard. What more if we are to attract foreign investors or their families...