'Fake MyKad should have been detected sooner'

The incidents of robbery involving ‘rogue’ security guards have raised questions as to why the use of fake MyKad has gone undetected for so long.

Gerakan vice-president A Kohilan Pillay also said there is much fear among the public because the guards had been issued firearms on the job.

“The security guards were foreigners and in at least two of the cases, were holding fake MyKad,” he said in a statement. 

“How did the fake MyKad escape detection for so long? What drove the security companies to hire foreigners instead of locals?”

Kohilan said the Home Ministry should curb the situation by imposing:

• A freeze on licensing of new security service firms;
• Minimum wage for security guards;
• Guidelines for minimum professional fees for the industry; and
• Mandating that security firms pay wages only via direct bank account crediting.

“Safety for all Malaysians is at stake. Let Norazita’s death not be in vain and let hers be the last. One death is already too much to bear,” he added.

On Oct 23, Ambank bank officer Norazita Abu Talib was shot deadwhen the bank's security guard robbed the Subang Jaya branch of RM450,000. 

He was later found to have gained employment using a fake MyKad.

This was followed by the sentencing of two Filipinos, who worked as security guards, to a month’s jail for using fake MyKad.

The National Registration Department has said that the highest number of arrests of foreigners with fake Mykad have occurred in Perak and the Klang Valley.

It is believed that foreigners pay RM500 to get fake documentation in order to gain employment.