KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's government urged citizens to stop spreading the “false impression” that Malaysia is unsafe. The country's new official in charge of cracking down on crime, former Penang police chief Ayub Yaakob, was quoted as saying that the sharing on Facebook and Twitter is “impeding the police in getting accurate figures on criminal activity” in the country. He told the Sin Chew daily newspaper that the sharing of news online had contributed to the public's impression of high crime rates. “One person mentions a crime case … but 100 people share, others seeing it will think 100 cases have happened,” Yaakob was quoted as saying. His statements come almost a week after he was appointed chairman of the federal government's National Key Results Area secretariat on security issues. Yaakob added that some victims have chosen to share their experiences on social-networking websites instead of making police reports, which prevents the police from getting accurate news. He said the police “will set up a more systematic website to collect public opinion and set up more channels to report crime.” It also comes as more and more reports of sexual violence against women in car parks across the country are becoming public information. Police have said they are bolstering their efforts to crackdown on violence against women, but still, Malaysian women are fearful of being in public by themselves. After a spate of attacks against women at car parks across Malaysia, Lulu Aziz is one of many women who said they can't be out by themselves for fear of being attacked. “I used to go shopping by myself, drive me car around and not have to worry about anything," the 29-year-old advertising consultant in Petaling Jaya told Bikyamasr.com. “Now, I fear that someone will attack me and rape me. It is too much right now and I will go to work and stay home unless a friend will come with me." Aziz is single and with many of her closest friends already married, she said they “don't want to go out during the week so it makes it tough on me." Other women, including an elderly woman in a letter to the editor of Free Malaysia Today, also said they fear being in public alone. “I'm not asking for a red carpet to go to the wet market but merely lights in order not to feel so fearful of my safety," the woman wrote, highlighting the growing concern over security concerns in the country in regards to female safety. Malaysia women are blaming the government's inaction after another woman reported being attacked at a car park in the country.
