"Revise Laws To Check Vandalism"

Letter to Editor,


I read with interest a letter from the Consumers Association of Penang appearing in the Star Publication on the 24th April under the caption “Revise Laws To Check Vandalism.”

Vandalism is posing a major threat to our social fabric and well being of the people.

Hardly a week passes without reports in the media about some form of vandalism being committed on public telephones, road signages, street lighting, public parks, or housing flats.

For example, in many local authority areas even manhole covers and aluminium signages are not spared.

This wanton destruction of public property is a stark reminder to the authorities that more effective action must be taken to tackle vandalism in our midst.

Local authorities have to spend tens of millions of ringgit to repair public amenities and property that had been vandalized.

Vandalism is not only confined to the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. Cities and towns throughout the country are facing similar problems and have to cope with them. Vandals have also set fire to telephone booths or cause severe damage to public phones which cause great inconvenience to the public when emergency calls have to be made.

Acts of vandalism abound in every nook and corner of the country. Public phones, garbage bins, lifts, parking meters, bus shelter, road signages and public toilets are targets.

In many ways, Malaysians are a carrying people but when it comes to anything that is common property, the act of good behaviour disappears – thus leaving a trail of destruction which is sheer despicable as amenities provided cannot be put to use, especially during an emergency.

Though vandalism in Malaysia is not as severe as in many countries in the West, the quantum of damage renders it a serious problem that must be tackled effectively.

According to psychiatrists, there are several categories of vandals who include teenagers who are influenced by negative peer pressure; graffiti crawlers who leave messages; frustrated groups who vandalise to vent their anger, drug addicts who vandalise to remove items for sale; and adults who have been vandals since childhood.

It is recognized that vandalism must be tackled via education, inculcation of good values, social responsibility, and civic consciousness.

However, education alone is not sufficient; it must be backed up by stringent legislation and strong enforcement.

Vandalism by-laws enforced by the various local authorities are inadequate to rid the nation of this problem.

There is a need for a new federal legislation to deal with this problem through compulsory community service to shame the culprits, as well as provision to cane habitual offenders.

The time has come for a Vandalism Act to be introduced to allow deterrent punishment and compulsory community service. This can be done now that Article 6 of the Federal Constitution, which prohibits forced labour, has been amended several years ago.

The proposed Vandalism Act should provide for:-

(i) Those who commit any act of vandalism shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to compulsory community service in accordance to the number of hours to be determined by the relevant authorities.

(ii) For habitual offenders (more than three times), those guilty of offences shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years and shall also, subject to section 231 of the Criminal Procedure Code, be punished with caning.

Although the state of vandalism in our cities and towns is not very alarming, it is nevertheless serious and warrants stringent laws to deal with the problem in addition to awareness campaigns to prevent vandalism.

As it is difficult for the authorities to nab the culprits red-handed, members of the public can make a citizen’s arrest on those found in the act of vandalizing public properties such as telephone booths, parking meters, road signages and other public amenities.