Public Safety!

Public safety is essential as it ensures social peace and stability in the country. The two components of the Public Safety Index are crime rate and road accidents. The crime rate was measured as per thousand populations while road accidents were measured as per thousand vehicles. The Public Safety Index declined during the period from 78.4 points in 1980 to 72.1 points in 1998, mainly due to an increase in road accidents, while changes in the crime rate were constant except in 1985-1986 and 1997-1998, coinciding with the period of economic downturn.


Crimes per thousand population increased from 5.3 in 1980 to 7.2 in 1998, while the average crime rate for the 19-year period was only 4.7. For the period 1980-1989, the average crime rate was 5.1, as compared to 3.8 for the period 1990-1996, indicating an overall decline in crime rate during the period of strong economic growth. Crime rate however, rose to 5.6 and 7.2 in 1997 and 1998 respectively during the period of economic slowdown.


Road accidents per thousand vehicles decreased from 25.1 in 1980 to 23.6 in 1998, as reflected by the declining trend of the road accidents sub-index. Theaverage rate of road accidents per thousand vehicles for the 19-year period was 22.6. Normally during festive seasons almost all the road networks in the country will be used to maximum capacity, especially during the days prior to and after a festival. Records indicate an increase in road accidents during festive season as compared to a normal day. In 1998, most fatal accidents occurred on State and Municipal roads and only 7 percent of the fatal accidents occurred on privatised expressways.


The quality of life of Malaysians during the period 1980-1998, witnessed an overall improvement as reflected by the upward movement in the MQLI. In almost all areas, substantial improvements were attained as evident by the positive developments in the areas of income and distribution, education, family life, health, transport and communications, social participation, housing, and working life. Although environment and public safety recorded declines, primarily due to a deterioration in the river water quality and an increase in the number of road accidents, continuous efforts are being undertaken to remedy the situation to ensure that the people continue to enjoy a better quality of life.