Durian Tunggal: Malaysia’s Wake-Up Call for Real Police Training Reform

When poor training turns fatal, the nation pays the price.

The killing of three civilians in Durian Tunggal, Melaka—including a 21-year-old with no criminal record—has forced Malaysia to confront a painful truth: when police officers are inadequately trained, tragedy becomes inevitable.

Police initially claimed there was an “attack” and "self-defense". Yet a 13-minute audio recording—captured live by the wife of one of the victims—reveals a starkly different story. The young men are heard fully complying with police commands. One officer orders, “duduk,” and the suspect calmly replies, “Ya bang.” There is no shouting, no fighting, no threat—only obedience. Moments later, gunshots erupt.

Post-mortem reports reportedly show bullet entry angles from above—consistent with the victims being forced to squat or kneel. If true, this directly contradicts the police narrative and points to a catastrophic collapse of professionalism, judgment, truth, and discipline.

This was not merely misconduct.

This was a failure of training.

The Real Problem: Training, Not Just Tactics

Proper policing requires far more than knowing how to pull a trigger. It demands emotional control, legal understanding, communication skills, and the ability to de-escalate conflict with confidence and clarity.

When officers lack these competencies, they become reactive, fearful, and prone to unnecessary and brutal force. Good training builds confidence, honesty, and discipline. Poor training breeds insecurity—and insecurity becomes brutality, and brutality leads to lying through the teeth.

As scripture teaches: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that strengthens and enlightens the mind.”

Similarly, officers cannot rely on weapons alone—they must be nourished by discipline, knowledge, and moral grounding to develop character and integrity.

Even Tamil cinema reflects this timeless truth. The legendary MGR famously sang: “Don’t sharpen your knife… sharpen your mind.”

A reminder that true strength comes not from weapons, but from wisdom, clarity, and training.

Another classic Tamil lyric warns: “Don’t trust your eyes—they can deceive you. Trust all your senses, especially your trained mind.”

These teachings—whether from scriptures, song, or philosophy—carry one message: The mind must be disciplined and trained above all else.

Training The Mind: The Key to Preventing Tragedy

When police officers lack proper training of the mind, they often fall into unwise and reactionary behaviors. Training is not merely about procedures—it is about strengthening the human mind.

Officers must accept a simple truth: criminals will commit crimes. The role of law enforcement is to prevent, interrupt, and bring justice through skill and knowledge, not emotion.

A well-trained police officer is a thinking officer. Regular training sharpens analytical abilities, builds confidence, and nurtures professional pride. Such officers stay one step ahead of criminals, using knowledge, observation, and strategy to outsmart them. They succeed with integrity, fulfilling their duty honorably.

In contrast, untrained or poorly trained officers feel overwhelmed and insecure, fueling the dictum that an idle mind is a devil's workshop. They grow frustrated, lose motivation, and become emotionally unstable most of the time. Feeling threatened and lacking mental discipline, they rely on shortcuts born from fear, anger, impatience, and helplessness.

When these emotions dominate, some begin to justify the unjustifiable: excessive and even lethal force against suspects they find “irritating.” This is not justice, but uncontrolled hatred, anxiety, and desperation leading to unholy justification.

What Malaysia Must Do Now

To prevent another tragedy like Durian Tunggal, Malaysia must urgently overhaul police training and culture. This means:

• Implementing regular full-spectrum police trainings that include de-escalation techniques, emotional intelligence, legal procedure, and communication mastery.
• Introducing continuous retraining programs rather than one-off seminars.
• Mandating body cameras and strict evidence-handling protocols to ensure transparency.
• Establishing independent oversight bodies to end internal cover-ups and protect the integrity of investigations.
• Holding officers fully accountable for violations of law and breaches of public trust.

Durian Tunggal must not fade into yesterday’s news. It must become the turning point that forces Malaysia to rebuild a police force worthy of public confidence.

Malaysians deserve officers who protect—not officers who kill out of fear, frustration, or inadequate training.

By Jackson Yogarajah

Deception Detection Expert • Former Special Branch Trainer • Author of A TO Z About Body Language • Founder of the OWLS Method of Detecting Deception.