Malaysia combats crime wave

By Jonathan Kent In Kuala Lumpur

The number of police officers in Malaysia is to be boosted by almost a third in response to public concerns about crime.

The drive to recruit an additional 23,000 officers follows the rape and murder of a young woman abducted while at a family celebration in a wealthy district of the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian police are not well paid

Canny Ong's killing prompted an outcry from a Malaysian public worried after a string of murders and gang rapes.

The 28-year-old was due to return to the United States with her American husband and was sharing a farewell dinner with her family.

She left the table to retrieve a ticket from her car and never returned.

Ong and the man who had abducted her were apparently stopped twice by police, who failed to notice anything was wrong.

Her charred body was found four days later.

Corruption problem

Malaysian deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's plan to recruit extra officers over the next five years will add to the 80,000 already on the beat.

He said the government's long term aim was to increase police numbers tenfold in line with levels in developed nations.

However, getting so many volunteers will be a challenge in itself.

Police pay is low by local standards and Abdullah Badawi concedes that corruption in the ranks is a problem.

But the deputy prime minister, who is due to take over the top job in October, is signalling that fighting crime and corruption will among his priorities.

The once ubiquitous pirate video sellers have all but disappeared from the streets since Abdullah Badawi instigated a major police operation against the criminals last month.