PUTRAJAYA, Aug 13 – The government will pay attention to restore people’s negative perceptions of national security issues in the forthcoming 2016 Budget, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani. He said this was important because even though the crime rate has declined, but the perception of the people about the safety and sense of security they indicate otherwise.
“The issue of perception management is essential to restore the confidence of the people and will indirectly influence and attraction of investors to invest in Malaysia,” he told the reporters after chairing a meeting of the Focus Group to Improve Public Safety in the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.
According to him, the police have managed to reduce the crime rate by more than 40 percent in the past five years but feedback from the public sense of security has declined from 47.5 per cent in 2011 to 39 percent last year. He said among steps being considered to increase public confidence in the security of the country is further cooperation of government agencies with the people at the grassroots level.
“This can be done through partnerships with non-governmental organizations, neighborhood associations, union locals and the involvement of religious institutions in the centers of worship. The negative perceptions of national security is also due to rumors on social media that causes people fear their personal safety. The perception of the security of the country was also affected, such as posting on social media, which states there is a broken hand for a fight, but the real story is due to an accident,” said Johari.
