JUNE 19 — The media is to blame for the perception that crime is on the increase, according to the head of PEMANDU. According to him, in actual fact crime is markedly on the decline.

But coverage of crime in the media in Malaysia has generally been the same over the years with no evidence that the nature and extent of coverage has changed over the last few weeks.

What has changed is the all-pervasive power of social media today. The impact of hearing of victims of crime that we know in our neighbourhood is much higher than when it happens to complete strangers in places far away from us. 

Because social media amplifies the spirit of community, the perception of proximity to incidents of crime increases. Additionally, Facebook narratives are written by regular people, not journalists, so there is a breathlessness and immediacy to the account of the incident that heightens our worries. So even if actual crime is declining, the opposite seems true.

What has also changed is the inherent desperation underlying the modus operandi of the perpetrators in recent crimes. Two toll booth attendants are shot for a paltry RM2,000. People are assaulted and beaten in lifts, parking lots and malls where the window of opportunity is small and the monetary reward uncertain. 

Crimes of opportunity are inherently scarier to the general public than those that are premeditated because in the case of the former almost anybody can be a target.

Why is it that criminals seem increasingly willing to use violence for what could be genuinely paltry takings? Why the extreme brutality in a generally peaceful society underpinned by a strong emphasis on moral and spiritual values? One of the answers could simply be that with the rise of patrolled gated communities, opportunities to commit crime without violence are drying up.

At a deeper level though, this desperation points to a changing politico-economic environment that is forcing such radical shifts in behaviour. When there is a perception that well-connected people are getting obscenely rich and are spending their wealth conspicuously and extravagantly while everybody else is feeling the pressure of stagnating incomes, greater indebtedness and inflation, feelings of anger and desperation seem only natural.

As was argued in a previous column, the overtly optimistic forecasts of the 2011 Budget were more “far out” than “spot on.” As petroleum prices drop and exports slow due to global headwinds, combined with a narrow taxpayer base and no GST, government revenue drops and the fiscal deficit widens. 

Additional government spending on capital expenditure may spur domestic demand and the national stock of capital assets, but the major share of the government’s request for an additional RM13.8 billion last week was for “Treasury general services”, propping up subsidies and handouts.

Increasing inflation, higher interest rates and consequent high default on outstanding loans given stagnating incomes could be an outcome of profligate government spending rife with “leakages” already seen in other economies, notably Greece.

In addition to a gloomy economic scenario, social pressures spawned by an education system that seems incapable of matching student skills with employer demands leads to either unemployment or a mismatch in employee-employer expectations. When fresh graduates want more money and employers think that new employees need to be completely retrained, frustrations are bound to mount.

All in all, poorly-educated, lowly-paid young people with large debts at the beginning of their working lives watching their more fortunate peers driving fancy cars and throwing money around on brands and holidays leads to an explosive mix that can result in depression, anger, rising drug use and violent economic crime.

The bad news is as the economy falters, this desperation is sure to rise. While in the short term building ever higher walls and enrolling in self-defence classes may be a solution, eventually there is no alternative to an equitable, needs-based, tough-on-corruption policy prescription that propels all Malaysians and not a select few to be part of a high-income nation.

In this context, the next general election could not be coming at a more opportune time for the Malaysian voter to demonstrate that she can differentiate between rhetoric and action, between policy and its implementation.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.