Book Review: Philanthropists by Rozlan Mohd Noor

It’s another slow night for Inspector Mislan Abdul Latif of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent’s Office of Special Investigations (D9) when he gets a call from one of the police districts under his unit’s purview. The investigating officer (IO) first called to the scene of a shooting has requested that the D9 step in to take over, as the case is far more complicated than the local police’s usual remit. Two men have been executed in their rented home, with over three pounds of illegal drugs left on the bed next to them. To complicate matters, any form of paperwork regarding the dead men’s identities has been expertly removed. 

Narcotics doesn’t want the case – their remit, as they remind the already fatigued IO Detective Shahira Adnan, is in stopping drug trafficking, not in investigating the deaths of two suspected drug dealers. Fortunately for the IO, Inspector Mislan and his assistant Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin are intrigued enough by the circumstances to pitch it to their own department head, Superintendent Samsiah Hassan. Deaths during the course of a one-off home invasion would most likely be sent back to the local police, but the anomalies of this case suggest the presence of a criminal plot far more diabolical than warranted for a simple smash-and-grab.

After Samsiah gives them the go-ahead to take over, Mislan and Johan are able to confirm that the dead men were Rohingyan immigrants. Given the recent rise in tensions between the local community and Rohingyan refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar, the detectives know they must tread carefully. When it comes time to question some of the dead men’s former co-workers at the Selayang wet market, Mislan and Johan bring backup. It is, perhaps, not enough, as they’re quickly surrounded by hostile foreigners laboring under a strange misapprehension:

Most of the Rohingya refugees seem to be of the opinion that as UNHCR-registered refugees, they are insulated against any law of the country. A stereotypical mentality regarding most Western institutions, especially when dealing with developing and underdeveloped countries. This mentality has been passed on to the Rohingya. While Johan questions Azara, Mislan keeps his eyes on the crowd.

 

“You know Ajimullah?” Johan continues, ignoring Azara’s claim of being a UNHCR refugee.

 

“Last time when he work here.”

 

Hearing the name Ajimullah, the crowd starts to get loud. One of them starts a chant, but it is not echoed by the rest and dies off. Mislan […] isn’t surprised by the crowd’s calls for Azara not to cooperate with the police. In the prevailing hostile situation and predicaments some Malaysians have put them in, it’s the natural reaction.

Just as our investigators are beginning to make headway with the case, another setback quickly befalls them. With deaths from COVID-19 on the rise, the Malaysian government is implementing a Movement Control Order (MCO) meant to keep people at home in order to reduce viral transmissions. The police have been tasked with setting up roadblocks to ensure that people abide by the MCO. Given the relative smallness of the police force as a percentage of the Malaysian population, even the staff of D9 is expected to help out, unless they’re pursuing active investigations.

While this lets Mislan and Johan off the hook, the MCO seriously curtails their ability to investigate otherwise. As they persevere, however, they discover that their murderers might not be of the criminal element that immediately springs to mind when one thinks of professional assassins. In fact, the killers may be a lot closer to home than either of them is truly prepared to deal with.

Frankly, I thought Philanthropists ruled. It’s the first police procedural I’ve read that deals with the impact that the COVID-19 lockdowns had on policing, and is both terrifically smart and surprisingly moving. More personally, as a Malaysian reader, I truly appreciated the no-holds-barred attitude Rozlan Mohd Noor has towards the milieu he’s describing. There isn’t any pandering to readers either local or foreign. He tells it like it is, showcasing Malaysian conversation and customs without attempting to make anything pretty or otherwise acceptable for mass consumption. But he also makes it a point to explain points of procedure that are less than intuitive to people unfamiliar with them:

Unlike in the United Stated or some other parts of the world, Malaysian police jurisdiction is nationwide. There is no such thing as federal, state, or district police jurisdiction. However, for the purpose of accountability, administration, and effectiveness, each state oversees the personnel and crimes within its own boundary. And it is a matter of policies and procedures as well as courtesy that personnel from one state do not just cross over to kick down doors without the host state being informed or involved.

I’ve always been a big proponent of international crime novels, and foreign police procedurals in particular, as a counterpoint to the glut of American copaganda in the media today. Just as American culture isn’t the be-all and end-all, neither are American standards of policing. This doesn’t mean that methods in other countries are necessarily better, though certainly the philosophies and de-escalation tactics of forces elsewhere have resulted in far fewer deaths by law enforcement. Books like Philanthropists allow the public an eye into why that is, while also being wildly entertaining.