Where are Good Samaritans?

Do you ever heard of “tourist police” in Penang? I think Penangites also not sure of the meaning of this term. For myself, I don’t think Penang has its own tourist police for overseas and abroad tourists.

I was out yesterday, Monday. In the post office in Komtar, a man came in to the counters and said, “Can you call the tourist police for me? Please ... please call the tourist police for me...”

The man inside the counter just stared at him. Like what has happened to him. The man continues to tell them the same thing, which is to call the tourist police for him.

You know what the man inside the counter said? He stumbled for a while and said, “No!” he continues to mumble a few words in his mouth, but I don’t know what he was mumbling. I was thinking that how shame the community is, can’t even help a man to call the police since there are no what-so-called tourist police in Penang. I felt ashamed for the man inside the counter. No police in Penang? And what-so 999 line for?

An Indian lady, a customer, asked him what had happened to him. The man said that he was robbed on the street and someone fetched him to the post office to ask for help. How kind the Indian lady, she offered him help and they walked out from the post office. I was following them too, to see what will happen next.

They came up to a policewoman who is in charged on that day. An unfamiliar face to us (Malay policewoman). They told her about what happened to the man, and the policewoman again, pointed here and there, shrugged to them, indicating that she did not know what to do too! At last, the officer had “confirmed” a direction and pointed to a way to ask the man to go to the direction to report to the cops.

It was too rude for her to do that to an overseas tourist who have been robbed and lost his passport. She just acted like nothing bad happened and like a girl who had not heard of people being robbed. She just ridiculously pointed a path for the man, as to ward him away from the spot, and that was the easiest way to save the trouble for herself too!

How sad the community is nowadays, can’t even help a man who was in trouble.

Can you imagine when something bad happens to you, and you come up to people for help, there is no one can help you, even the so-called police.

Where are the Good Samaritans?