SINGAPORE: The Johor Police have set up a special hotline for foreigners to call and report crimes.

The hotline - 07-2212999 - will be manned 24 hours by staff conversant in English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.

Johor Police Chief Mokhtar Shariff assured the public that all complaints will be responded to within 15 minutes.

His officers will also inform the caller of subsequent actions taken.

This initiative comes in the wake of discussions between the Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore, N. Parameswaran, and the Johor Police.

Mr Parameswaran hopes this measure will reduce crimes in the state and facilitate cross-border exchanges with Singapore. - CNA/vm