Penang’s PPS claims it’s legit

This is despite the IGP saying it is an illegal organisation because it has no ROS approval.

GEORGE TOWN: The controversial Voluntary Patrol Unit (PPS) claims that it does not need approval by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) because it is an agency of the Penang state government.
State executive councillor Phee Boon Poh, who is in charge of PPS, today rejected an allegation by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar that it is an illegal organisation.
Speaking to reporters here, Phee said PPS was similar to other government agencies, such as the Village Safety and Development Committees.
“Hence, the question of PPS being an illegal organisation does not arise,” he added.
Phee was responding to the ROS and police statements that PPS, being unregistered, is an illegal organisation.
IGP Khalid said in a recent press statement that PPS was “viewed as an illegal organisation” because it was not registered under the Societies Act.
“We will conduct a through investigation into PPS’ activities and will take appropriate action according to the law,” he added.
Khalid also said two men in their 30s has been arrested following allegations by a social activist that he was assaulted by members of PPS in Air Itam, George Town.
Penang is the only state in Malaysia that has its own voluntary patrol unit, which critics say is a type of vigilante group.
It is learnt that the Penang government allocates an annual budget of RM1.5 million to sustain the 10,000-member PPS, which operates throughout the state.
A FMT reader has referred to a study undertaken by Moritz Schuberth of the University of Bradford that revealed that “vigilante groups, partly initiated and sustained by the government, often develop their own political agenda and turn into lawless organisations terrorising citizens and the state itself.”
Following the Air Itam assault incident, critics have called on PPS to be disbanded. The alleged victim, Ong Eu Soon, claimed some members of the group that assaulted him were wearing the PPS’s purple vest.
He alleged that the assailants told him they disliked his criticism of the state government.
In January last year, journalist Ang Kean Siang was attacked by two PPS members, suffering injuries to his lips, chest, abdomen, and groin.
A defensive Phee blamed the incidents on certain “black sheep” in the unit. He said the state government had always condemned acts of violence.
“Tell me, which organisations don’t have black sheep?” he asked.
He said PPS personnel were always vetted by police before being recruited.