THE two biggest social ills plaguing Malacca, namely glue-sniffing and illegal computerised gambling, dominated the state legislative assembly earlier this week.
On Monday, Malacca created history when it became the first state to table and approve a motion to control and restrict the sale of glue to curb glue-sniffing among its people, especially the youth.
The motion, proposed by Barisan Nasional assemblyman for Klebang Lim Ban Hong, was supported by all 21 BN assemblymen and Pas assemblyman for Bukit Baru Dr Md Khalid Kassim. The six DAP representatives abstained.
The motion urged the state government to instruct all local authorities in the state, namely the Malacca Historical City Council, Hang Tuah Jaya Municipal Council, Jasin Municipal Council and Alor Gajah Municipal Council, to restrict the sale of glue, especially to youth.
The motion calls for the sale of glue to be restricted to certain premises, and traders will have to record the details of buyers for monitoring purposes by the authorities in a move to control the public’s access to the product.
The motion is expected to have no problems in being gazetted as Section 102(a) of the Local Government Act 1976 allows the local authorities to make by-laws to maintain the safety and health of the people in the state.
The by-laws would focus on restricting the sale of glue to certain types of premises, limiting the purchase of glue to those above 18 and documenting all glue-sale transaction records.
The sales records must be kept by the retailer and must be shown to the authorities during checks at the former’s premises.
Currently, glue can be purchased from small provision shops right up to major hypermarkets, with no questions asked.
On April 15, the New Straits Times reported state police chief Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye as saying no action could be taken against glue-sniffers until a law to prohibit glue-sniffing was drafted, tabled and passed.
He said it was common knowledge that there were no laws at present to curb the misuse of the substance.
The police, he stressed, would not hesitate to arrest glue-sniffers once the law came into effect.
Chuah said this after a local man had alleged that no action was taken against his glue-sniffing son, despite the man having lodged several police reports over the past few years.
Since the initiative to seriously combat glue-sniffing is being spearheaded by Malacca, the state legislative assembly heard that there were no specific laws at the federal level against the abuse of the substance. Thus, the motion passed in the state did not contravene the Federal Constitution and local by-laws would be applied in its implementation.
State Housing, Local Government and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ismail Othman said following the approval of the motion, the by-laws would be updated, especially pertaining to the issuance of licences for selling glue.
A doctor, who wanted to be known only as Dr Khalid, said glue-sniffing was proven to be detrimental to society, causing social ills, the breakdown of the family institution and rise in petty crimes.
He said glue-sniffing had lead to suicides and caused extreme fluctuations in emotional levels, as well as other problems, such as heart disease, slurred speech and sudden death.
On weeding out illegal gambling, a motion was passed for the setting up of a special squad with powers to haul up property and licence owners of premises where illicit gambling is carried out.
The motion by Sazali Md Din (BN-Paya Rumput), unanimously agreed to by all 28 state assemblymen, including seven opposition members, stated that the enforcement by police and local authorities to seize gambling machines and nab individuals involved in illicit gambling was insufficient, as illegal gambling operators kept returning to the business because of its high profit.
The House was told it was time to get tough and action must be taken not only against gamblers, but also owners of premises.
For this, a special task force, comprising various agencies, such as the Royal Malaysian Police, local authorities, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Islamic Religious Department of Malacca, People’s Volunteer Corps, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and non-governmental organisations, should be established.