USM, PENANG, 10 March 2016 – Terrorist-related issues occurring in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia have created a sense of urgency for the global community to be more vigilant on the potential threats from terrorists.

“Surveillance is an essential part for most terrorist attacks, although there are exceptions, such as in the form of explosives sent through the mail.”

"The main objective of conducting surveillance is to identify the weakness and the level of security of a potential target. Terrorists would conduct surveillance activities to seek for the most suitable moment to act, which may take weeks, months or even years," said the Penang Chief of Police YDH CP Dato' Abdul Ghafar Rajab when officiating the ‘Security Workshop on Surveillance Detection – Counter Terrorism Strategies’ organised by the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation with the cooperation of the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) School of Social Sciences here recently.

He added that, early detection on the surveillance activities of terrorist groups could prevent such acts of terror from being carried out.

"The emphasis on early detection on the surveillance conducted by terrorists is to detect differences in what is common and uncommon in daily happenings within our surroundings," said Abdul Ghafar.

The two-day workshop served as a platform to educate the public to be more aware and be on the alert in relation to the surrounding conditions.

"We would have more cooperation with the USM School of Social Sciences and the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation to conduct programmes to educate the public on terrorism-related issues," commented Abdul Ghafar.

The workshop was coordinated by the Chairperson, Penang Crime Prevention Foundation Dato’ Syed Jaafar Syed Ali; Director, USM Security Department and Head Researcher for ‘Crime and Policing in Malaysia', Associate Professor Dr. P. Sundramoorthy; Security Manager, Intel Technology Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia), Rosli Mohamed Ali and Security Manager, Honeywell Aerospace Avionics (M) Sdn. Bhd., Ching Eng Leong together with approximately 200 participants. 

Also present was the Dean, School of Social Sciences, Professor Dr. Azlinda Azman.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Text: Nor Khamisah Saidin (USM internship student)