PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysians want to show the country's cops their love by giving them chocolates as part of an appreciation drive after the police became the subject of a complaint by former prime minister Najib Razak, who said the sweet treats were stolen from his fridge during a raid last week.
From 4pm to 5pm on Saturday (May 26), Malaysians will be urged to drop by with their chocolates at the Sentul district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur or their local police stations as part of the event called "Jom Bagi Coklat Kat Abang & Akak Polis" (Let's Give Chocolates to the Police), organised by lawyer Siti Kasim.
Ms Siti told The Star that the event is also being held in conjunction with the fasting month of Ramadan.
"In conjunction with Ramadan, let us all give chocolates to our police force as a token of appreciation for their hard work of ensuring the security of our beloved country," a description of the event on its Facebook page read.
"Please deliver at your local police station, then post your photos or videos on the page or your profile. Let's flood our timeline with joyful photos and videos!"
The page, with the #chocs4cops tagline, was trending on the social media site, with many giving their support to the event.
The event has so far received 887 shares, with 373 people pledging to make the effort on Saturday and 1,900 saying they were interested in it.
Ms Siti said the idea for the event came from a complaint recently made against the police for eating in some fridge "somewhere". This was a reference to the complaint made by Datuk Seri Najib, who alleged last Saturday (May 19) that some police personnel raided the fridge at his residence and ate chocolates while conducting raids in relation to their probe into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund.
Ms Siti added: "I think that they are sometimes treated unfairly because of some bad apples but the majority of them are very nice people. I am kind of surprised that there is so much traction. I think a lot of people feel the same about how they are treated."
Mr Najib, through his then lawyer Harpal Singh Grewal, had complained about the conduct of the police during the raids on his residences, saying they had been conducted in a "cavalier and irresponsible manner".
"The police personnel helped themselves to food and chocolates in the refrigerator and further demanded that meals be prepared for them," the lawyer's statement said.
Mr Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor also said they were unhappy that police had confiscated clothes and shoes belonging to his children without seeking to verify if the items had anything to do with the investigations.
Mr Harpal on Tuesday (May 22) said he and his colleague M. Athimulan had withdrawn themselves from the team, now being led by former solicitor-general Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin.
Following the allegations, Datuk Seri Amar Singh, director of police commercial crime investigations, asked that more details be provided and that the officers involved be identified.
He said in his statement that such unprofessional conduct would not be tolerated and that stern action would be taken if the allegations were proven true.
