KUALA LUMPUR: Several interest groups, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government agencies, gathered here to form a common coalition to fight crime.
Spearheaded by the National Council of Women’s Organisations of Malaysia (NCWO), the Coalition of Citizens Against Crime was formed in response to a recent call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for all Malaysians to join hands to make the nation a safer place to live in.
NCWO president Prof Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said they hoped to rope more people from NGOs, community interest groups, private sector organisations, the media, the academia and government agencies into the coalition.
“It is also important to bring in political parties because they are all in the community.
“When we work together, political differences will be gone because of the common interest,” she said.
She said the coalition aimed to use the collective strength to wipe out crime in the community.
“This is our first meeting and we have already got such a good response,” she said yesterday.
She hoped the coalition would assemble like-minded groups with the common interest of caring for the safety and security of the country, such as in neighbourhoods, workplaces and public areas.
For more information on the coalition, call the NCWO headquarters at 03-2698 9251 or e-mail ncwohq@newwomen.net.