Daring Heist At KLIA Symptomatic Of Our Tidak Apa Work Ethics

The Malay Mail reports that the daring RM3.5 million KLIA robbery on Wednesday has spewed forth a litany of unanswered questions following the revelation that the closedcircuit cameras outside the departure hall did not record the drama.

The questions raised by the newspaper were:

** Why weren’t the CCTVs recording?

** What measures do Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad have in place to counter such a crisis?

** Did the robbers know that these cameras were not recording, given the fact that they were not masked or helmeted?

** Why wasn’t airport security activated when the shooting drama lasted for about five minutes ? One reader said it was amazing that one of the moneychangers and an armed guard had not been hit, considering that at least 40 rounds were expended at close range.

In Wednesday's drama, the gunmen ambushed two moneychangers and their two armed guards at the busy departure hall of the airport before opening gunfire and grabbing a bag containing the money. They escaped in two cars driven by another two men.

The heist is a major embarrassment for the country's airport authorities and came just a day after a passenger smuggled a fruit knife into a Bangladeshi plane, forcing a security scare.

The police moved yesterday to soothe concerns about Malaysia's rising security risks, saying that the latest case was an isolated one. "This case is isolated and the public should not perceive the airport as an unsafe location," Federal police deputy chief Esmail Omar was quoted by Bernama.

Meanwhile, airport and police authorities last night confirmed that the cameras were not recording but were installed to monitor.

***** The successful heist is a clear indication of the tidak apa attitude prevalent in our country all these years. Personnel responsible for security are not bothered, nor do they have pride in the duties they have been entrusted with.

The average worker does the minimum amount of work necessary to get through the day/night and hopes nothing untoward happens on his/her shift. After a short incident-free period, complacency sets in and being true-blue Malaysians, even the senior officers start to work on automatic gear, oblivious to the dangers that their sikap exposes innocent people to.

What was shattered by the heist apart fom the bones of the unfortunate victims is the image of the country, not to mention our national pride and international confidence in our security measures.

Too Little Too Late:
Malaysia launches armed airport patrols after shootout