Malaysian crimefighters: fit or fat?

Yayın tarihi 6 Ağustos 2009

A bid to reduce street crime in Malaysia has hit a stumbling block after dozens of volunteers were turned down because they were overweight.

Fewer than a third of those who wanted to join the police were accepted.

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Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Razak, announced ambitious targets last week to tackle street crime.

He wants a 20% fall by this time next year. Retired policemen are being brought back and members of Malaysia's people's volunteer corps are being enlisted to fight on the frontline. They'll join police on street patrols.

The problem is though, most of the first batch were not considered up to it. Of 500 volunteers who were sent for assessment, just 142 were fit enough.

The rest were too fat, unfit or had what the head of the corps told an English language newspaper was 'poor overall presentation and grooming'. Corps members wear military uniforms but most of them are unpaid volunteers with limited powers.

Street crime, particularly mugging, is seen as a serious problem in Malaysia's major cities. The opposition has called for the country's top policeman to be replaced because of the failure to tackle the issue.

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