LAST week, the Terengganu police chief Aidi Ismail proudly attributed the state’s low record of gangsterism to its high 97% Malay population.

In Terengganu, 97% of the population comprises Malays, and they still respect their elders in their villages, he said. They respect the village chief, imam and bilal.

“This culture is an advantage, and can prevent gangsterism-related crimes,” the police chief said.

The media and its readers were not too kind to him, and accused him of racial profiling.

I trust the Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun was speaking the truth when he stepped in to clarify the matter, defending the Terengganu police chief, saying ”I do not believe he meant it as a racial remark”.

Even the Deputy Communications and Multimedia minister Jailani Johari had to step in to urge all parties to stop the accusations and discontinue publishing articles and comments of netizens questioning Aidi Ismail’s intent.

As always, the line of his statement being “misrepresented” was used, and shots were taken at “irresponsible parties” who were taking the opportunity to raise up racial sensitivies.

As a Malaysian who believes beyond doubt that racial profiling is wrong and that it is the responsibility of every citizen to safeguard the country’s harmony, I hereby take the liberty to present four scenarios in my honest attempt to educate those who needs to be educated in order to protect the sanctity of our peaceful nation, as aspired by the government.

Lesson 1: According to Pornhub’s 2014 statistics, the internet users in Kuala Terengganu were the top pornography streamers in our country.

Now, just because the population of Kuala Terengganu consist of 94.74% Malays, it should not be concluded that it is the culture of the Malays to watch pornography.

Likewise, it should not be assumed that the reason for the tremendous drop in the number of gangsterism-related crimes in the state is due to the Malays substituting gangsterism with porn.

Lesson 2: According to Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed’s statement in Parliament last year, nearly 80% of drug addicts in Malaysia, are Malays.

Although the majority of drug addicts in our country are Malays, it should not be assumed that drug addiction is part of the Malay culture. It should also not be assumed that the reason the Malays are not too much into gangsterism in recent times is because they are too intoxicated with drug substances to be involved in any criminal related activities.

Lesson 3: According to the recent statement by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Kelantan records the lowest per capita income in the country.

A quick check on Wikipedia shows that 94% of Kelantanese are Malays. However, this should not be used as an excuse by anyone to conclude that it is the culture of the Malays to dedicate most of their time for religious matters and to practise a non-hardworking lifestyle, hence contributing to poverty. At the same time, it should not be assumed that the Kelantan Malays are struggling with poverty due to their addiction to drugs and pornography.

Lesson 4: According to the statistics provided by the Royal Malaysian Police to Human Rights Watch in 2014, there were 4,334 police misconduct cases involving police abuse, drug-related offenses, corruption, extortion, robbery and other crimes between 2005 to 2012.

Now, out of 133,212 police personnel in Malaysia, more than 80% are Malays. However, we should not conclude that these police misconduct cases take place because it is the culture of the Malays to abuse their power. Likewise, it should also be wrong to assume that the 80% of the police personnel who abuse their powers are addicted to drugs or pornography.

I hope with those four lessons given, in the future, the leaders and the ordinary people of Malaysia would be careful enough not to play footsie inside their mouths.

Let us stop racial profiling and stop dividing Malaysia based on race and religion. – December 21, 2017.

* Fa Abdul is a passionate storyteller and a resident agitator of the idiots in society. Well-known for her straight-talking sarcasm and occasional foul mouth, she juggles between her work as a writer, producer and director.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.