Amid calls from the Singapore authorities for a speedy probe, Malaysian Immigration has suspended two officials in Johor pending an inquiry into a complaint that they had forced rwo Singaporean women to do nude squats at a detention centre in Pontian recently.
"Investigations into the incident started on Thursday and will continue for the next one week," Malaysian Immigration director-general Alias Ahmad told the press.
The quick response came about after a pointed statement from the Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry that the allegations were “serious and raise concerns.”
“We welcome the quick announcement of the Malaysian authorities of an immediate investigation,” a Singapore ministry spokesman had told the Straits Times.
Meanwhile, both women are due to submit their written statements, and their foreign ministry has said it will hand these over to the Malaysian High Commission in hopes that it “will help the Malaysian investigators come to a quick conclusion.’
Indeed, the close monitoring by the Singapore authorities are a sign of the negative reputation the Najib administration has gained due to its reluctance to take firm action, especially if the culprits involved were members of the Malay community, even when there was strong evidence. The Malays form 60 percent of the population and is the bedrock of the UMNO electorate.
This has led rival political party PAS to publicly chide Najib, warning him not to turn the Malays into a spoilt and corruption-prone race. The Islamist PAS is the nation's second largest Malay-based party.
Women may be called to give further infomation
Meanwhile, Alias said the suspension was temporay until they determined whether the incident was true or not. He said both women could be called to testify if there was not enough information.
"Currently, we are only conducting investigations with the officials in Johor and have not received any reports or letters from the women. Other than that, we will also be looking ot how we can improve on the current standard operating procedures if needed," he said.
On a trip to Malaysia, the two women had initially bypassed an unmanned booth at the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex on June 9.
On realising they had made a mistake by not getting their passports stamped, they then made a U-turn on the Causeway to admit their mistake to the Malaysian officials.
But they were detained for several hours at the checkpoint and later took them to the Pekan Nenas detention centre where they were told to perform nude squats after a full body check.
The women were released a day later after the Deputy Public Prosecutor in charge of the case decided that they should be deported back to their country.
