YOURSAY 'Please think again, what is the role of a public servant - it’s to serve the public, not as a servant for the government.’

Rally a pretext to a bigger agenda, say cops

Hold Awam Accountable: Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order director Salleh Mat Rashid said, "They already have the plot and script written and just waiting for the necessary pictures and videos to complete the agenda."

Really? Seems to me this is what PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) is doing to try and frame the 'enemy'.

As for saying that PDRM will "only make arrests after gathering sufficient evidence", I think Salleh is already wrong in making these stupid allegations without any basis!

Not Confused: Very imaginative statement there, Salleh. The rally was not, as you so ignorantly put it, "to cripple the country's democratic system". Instead, it was an integral part of a maturing democracy.

This is despite your thugs in blue trying to intimidate and harass those exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression. Have you read our constitution?

Mushiro: Salleh, can the police decide which is the real reason for the rally?

First PDRM said the rally was to topple the government, then they said bombs were to be used, then they said that it was to disrupt peace, then they said it was in support of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community) and now you are saying that it was for some bigger agenda.

So which is it? Will you not believe that the rally was genuinely against the price hikes?

Watchtower: There is no other agenda, every member of the rakyat has a genuine concern about high prices this year. Don't see ghost in every corner. Instead help the rakyat in their right to express their concern to ensure no law is broken.

Your job is to keep peace and order and bring those who break the law to book, especially the corrupt officials who are bleeding our God-given rich resources dry.

Pputeh: Why can't these so-called senior police officers use their grey matter (if they have any) to make sensible statements? This police officer seems to be afraid of his own shadow.

Indeed, this is how these guys get the extra 'pip' on the shoulder. Apple polishing is their forte, not intelligent police work.

Sarajun Hoda: Today (Jan 1) is the morning of the new year. Last night (Dec 31), there were no bombs at Dataran Merdeka and Najib Abdul Razak's government was not toppled.

For whom are the police always crying wolf. And for what? The price hikes will make no difference to the police and their families? Have the police no compassion? No dignity?

Dalvik: PDRM, for the sake of your credibility, please stop making a second false accusation, right after you made the first one.

Please safeguard the interests of the rakyat (i.e. the dissatisfied voice of increasing cost of living) instead of the interests of the government which fails on financial management.

The government is elected by the rakyat; the rakyat have the right to speak out during these five years to ensure good governance. Or else, do you mean government can go extremely corrupted during its tenure, but the rakyat can only voice out about it during the election?

Please think again, what is the role of a public servant - it’s to serve the public, not as a servant for the government.

Quest: Firstly, thank you for showing restraint when the rally was peaceful because it's a democratic right to protest peacefully. Many protests turn bad when the police responded with violence or there are agents provocateurs.

Secondly, in view of the Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014 campaign, you should not cry wolf when people want to have an outlet to voice their dissatisfaction over burning political and economic issues of the day.

The police must not divert resources from policing our streets to curbing political parties. The ones who mug and slash on the streets are the criminals, not our MPs.

Faz: Actually, this small group who dare to defy the Umno Baru-BN and its 'extensions' in the form of police, DBKL (City Hall), Home Ministry, etc, is the representative of more than 50 percent of voters in the country.

A lot of us do not have the logistics to go there personally, indisposed or just too scared to face the cruel consequences from the authorities. To this group, we salute you for daring to demand our right to express our dissatisfaction to the unfairness perpetrated by the ruling elite.

Fair Play: Dear Salleh, as a senior member of the police force, you should not skew the facts to justify what you want say. How does protesting against the slew of price hikes that hit rakyat at large really, really hard become anti-government?

Are you suggesting that anything the rakyat say that is short of praising the government is invariably anti-government? So, by extension, everyone who did not approve the actions of PDRM are also anti-PDRM?

Your sole responsibility as security chief is to keep the peace and allow the rakyat to air their frustrations through the only means - holding a protest rally in a peaceful manner.

Where is the grenade that PDRM alleged before the beginning of the rally? If PDRM is impartial, rallies in Malaysia are always peaceful, unlike those in Thailand and Egypt, like you had mentioned.

If they recognise and accept this fact, PDRM would be respected by the rakyat.

Drngsc: This is a sad beginning for 2014 for Malaysia. Bukit Aman, you are so wrong. Malaysians have woken up and are probably much more in touch than you and Putrajaya.

We love Malaysia while you love Umno. Using the scare tactics will not cut it any more. Telling us that we have democracy in Malaysia, reveals how little you understand of democracy.

The people want their power back. The earlier you wake up to that, the better for you, your masters and for Malaysia. The days of threatening us and bullying us are over.

On New Year’s Eve at Dataran Merdeka, we saw young Malaysians from all races walking together to tell the government, "You have gone too far. We, the people, want you to listen to us. Be thrifty and spend wisely must apply to you too.”

Yes, there will be more public gatherings to tell the government that "we, the people, want to be heard”. Isn’t that not democracy?

Rupert16: Salleh certainly has a very good imagination. He should join the Hobbit scriptwriting team.

Toonarmy: Salleh, many of us saw Cinderella and her evil stepmother and stepsisters wearing Turun T-shirts on Dec 31.

Please investigate this blatant foreign interference in our affairs by Disneyland. This is very serious and will definitely jeopardise and undermine the sovereign status of our nation.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .