Jointly reported by:
Tham Yuanyi Sr2A
Michael Ng Sr3A
On the 12th of June 2021, Kuen Cheng Police Cadets organised a talk about the career of a police officer, with DSP Seah Chong Seng as the guest speaker of the day. Mr Seah works at Brickfields’ police headquarters as a Division Head of the Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department. The talk was open for club members only.
Due to some technical problems, the talk had started later than planned. Before the activities began, all the members rose for the Police Cadets anthem. Once the technical issues were resolved, the event started with the President of the Club, Yap Yii Shuan, giving an opening speech. She presented the objectives of this talk, and expressed her gratitude towards Mr Seah for agreeing to attend the event.
After that, Mr Seah kicked off his lecture by greeting the attendees and giving a brief self-introduction. Then, he explained the various jobs a police officer must carry out, including law enforcement, lawful arrest, prosecution, providing correct information to the public, protecting public property, and more. He mentioned that the responsibilities he showed on screen is just a fraction of what one may experience as an officer, as the police operate in many different fields of work.
Mr Seah continued by introducing the members to the ten departments within the Royal Malaysian Police. He clarified that the police have established these departments to prevent abuse of power within the organisation, as well as to make work more efficient.
The ten departments are:
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● the Management Department,
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● the Special Branch,
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● the Criminal Investigation Department,
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● the Internal Security and Public Order Department,
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● the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department,
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● the Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department,
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● the Logistics and Technology Department,
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● the Integrity and Standards Compliance Department,
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● the Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department,
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● and the Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department.
Then, Mr Seah showed the cadets the different police units one can enter after joining the police force. These include the General Operations Force, the Traffic Unit, the Federal Reserve Unit, the Air Police Force, the K9 Unit, the Marine Operations Force, the Mounted Police Unit, and the Special Operations Command, which comprises the Special Actions Unit and the 69 Commando Battalion. He explained the functions of each of these units and their roles in keeping the public safe.
Afterwards, Mr Seah explained the tasks of the police force in detail. One can find everyday policemen performing bureaucratic duties at the police station, arresting criminals, directing traffic, stationing roadblocks, and patrolling the streets in patrol vehicles (MPV) or motorcycles (URB). Police officers are also in charge of air, marine and border defense, riot control, drug busting, and generally keeping the peace of our nation.
“The people need a stable society to prosper economically, so it is in the best interests of every nation to control uprisings with appropriate, legal force,” Mr Seah added to elaborate on the importance of riot control.
Police officers also hold talks and other programs in schools to spread anti-crime awareness among the youth.
Mr Seah then went over some common crimes like theft, drugs distribution, and murder, along with respective punishments like imprisonment, imprisonment with parole, and execution by hanging. However, there are circumstances where criminals can get out of serving their full sentence. Mr Seah brought up such a case of a murder convict being released only after 10 years of imprisonment due to having contracted cancer.
In addition, Mr Seah talked about social problems among teenagers such as truancy, vandalism, bullying, gangsterism, and drug abuse. He advised the cadets to steer clear from involvement in the aforementioned activities, and to report anyone doing so to disciplinary authorities.
“One wrong move in your youth and you’ll be broken forever,” said Mr Seah as he used an anecdote of his drug addict uncle to emphasise the importance of staying away from becoming a part of social problems. He closed his talk by encouraging the cadets to stand up for what’s morally right and to guide others onto the right path.
