by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Saturday, March 28, 1992:
DAP calls on Public Services Department to raise the low police morale created by the SSB by establishing parity for all police grades with their equivalent counterparts in armed forces or civilian services.
DAP calls on the Public Services Department (PSD) to take a serious and urgent view of the low police morale created by the New Remuneration System or Sistem Saraan Baru (SSB) which had failed to give proper recognition to the important role played by all ranks of the police forces in performing a key public function of maintaining law and order in the country.
The greatest grouse permeating through the entire police force today is that they are being unfairly and unjust treated under the SSB, as compared to the Armed Forces and the other uniformed or civilian services.
For instance, a Police Commissioner is on the equivalent status as a Lieutenant General and Superscale
B. However in terms of entertainment and housing allowances, the Lieutenant General and Superscale
B are placed on par while the Police Commissioner gets less than both of them.
This also applies to the Deputy Police Commissioner who ¬although placed on the same status as the Major General and Superscale C will also got less in both entertainment and housing allowances under the SSB.
There is also the complaint that although the ASP and the Penguasa Kastam have the same entry requirements of Bachelors degree, the Penguasa Kastam’s salary ceiling is $3008 while the ASP’s salary ceiling is $2,550. The sense of injustice is heightened when account is taken of the fact that under the Customs Act, a police officer is also, regarded as a customs officer with similar powers for commensurate ranks, but never vice versa as customs officers are never regard¬ed as police officers under the Police Act.
Hence the general notice complaint about the SSB: “Kerja orang kita buat, kita buat pula kerja kita sendiri, orang yang kita tolong dapat qaji lebih dari kita”.
The Police Inspector also gets less in remuneration under the SSB when compared to his counterpart, Penolong Penguasa Kastam although both have the same entry qualifications of either STP or Diploma.
Similar complaints permeate through the entire police ranks down to the levels of sub-inspector, sergeant, corporal and ordinary police constable.
For instance, the sergeant, who is the work-horse in the police force, or in the words of the police ‘orang yang paling terok bekerja, segala apa juga undang-undang meletakkan tanggungjawah kepada Sarjan untuk memikul’ not only cannot compare in terms of remunera¬tion with the Ketua Kerani but also loses out to the Kerani!
DAP to raise the discontent and low morale of the police as a result of the SSB in next month’s
Parliament and to demand purity and justice for the police.
DAP calls on the Public Services Department to resolve the widespread discontent among the police personnel against the SSB, and to raise the police-morale, by revising the SSB to establish parity for all police ranks and grades with their equivalent counterparts in the Armed Services and other uniformed services as well as the civil¬ian service.
DAP will raise the issue of the discontent of the police force at the SSB and the low morale in next month’s Parliament if the PSD is not prepared to revise the SSB to ensure that the police enjoy parity with their counterparts in the other public services, whether armed, uniformed or civilian.
I hope all MPs including UMMO and other Barisan Nasional MPs, will support the DAP’s call for parity and justice for the police under the SSB.