Time and again we see the incompetence of our police force that has caused the death of ordinary citizens.

Remember how in May 1999 Audrey Melissa, a Form Five student at Methodist Girls' School, Kuala Lumpur, was raped and murdered? Her body was found virtually at the doorstep of the police headquarters.

There was the case of Dr Tai, who was shot dead point blank by the police, while in his car? His family is still in the process of suing the police and government.

Remember the pregnant woman who was shot dead by the police when they stormed into a house? There are many other similar cases.

In the latest fiasco, the Malaysian public is conveniently being duped into seeing the police as heroes for apprehending the Canny Ong murder suspect so quickly. Deeper observation however, suggests that it was the incompetence of the police that caused the problem.

We see the police suggesting that the killer may in fact be a serial rapist with at least four other similar cases in Selangor. None of the previous victims seem to have been murdered. So why was Canny treated differently? Anyone can figure out that it is simply because the alleged murderer knew that his identity was known.

Two plainclothes policemen on routine patrol had seen the car in a dark spot in the Subang area at around midnight shortly before the crime was allegedly committed. Now, I am not a security expert but even then it is common sense that a car seen under those circumstances must be regarded as suspicious.

It seems obvious to me that the policemen should have made the driver get out of his car before

asking for identification documents and subjecting him to questioning. If this was done, a getaway would not have been possible. The policemen seem not to have been trained to foresee simple eventualities.

The police also did not have the capacity to pursue and apprehend a criminal getting away in a small car like a Tiara. What if the criminal was in a high performance car like a Porsche?

Furthermore, it is interesting that the police claim that they gave chase but lost sight of the car. Can any reasonable person accept this excuse? How can one lose sight of a car at around midnight when there should have been virtually no traffic in the Subang airport road area?

Could it be that the policemen did not bother to pursue the car at all? Perhaps on seeing the identity card of a Malay man and a Chinese woman they assumed that the driver was running away fearing that he would be charged with khalwat ? If this is true the police have failed in their duty.

These are some of the many doubts that come to mind, and it is clear that the police have many questions to answer.

When is the Malaysian taxpayer going to stand up and demand that all our public services be up to the mark? How long more are we going to put up with blunders and incompetence like this, squandering hard-earned taxpayers' money and not to mention precious lives like Canny's?

The family of Canny Ong should seriously consider taking legal advice to see if the police and government can be sued over their latest blunder.