Shops for foreigners, bribes for officers, losses for rakyat

 

Across our towns and cities, foreign shops are mushrooming. Indonesians run kedai Acheh. Bangladeshis have minimarts. Myanmar nationals set up stalls and eateries.

They serve their own people, not Malaysians. And many of them operate outside the law.

While locals have KK Mart, 99 Speedmart, pasar malam or shopping malls, these outlets cater almost exclusively to their own nationals, selling goods from home.

But behind this convenience lies a darker truth. Many stock smuggled cigarettes and untaxed items. The money does not reach the government. It flows into the pockets of corrupt officers who shut their eyes in exchange for bribes.

Corruption is the oxygen that keeps these shops alive. Payments to enforcement officers have become routine, ensuring raids are rare and inspections non-existent.

When those entrusted with upholding the law can be bought, the law itself collapses.

Endless requirements

Malaysians trying to open a kedai runcit (grocery store), restaurant or any small business are buried under endless requirements: licences, fire safety checks, permits, and health inspections.

One misstep and their doors are shut. Foreign shops, however, grow unchecked, not through compliance but through corruption.

Raids, when they happen, are mere theatre. A few boxes are seized, shutters are closed for a week, and then business resumes. The bribery network remains untouched, and the cycle repeats.

The result is an underground economy that drains the nation. Illegal cigarettes flood the market, untaxed goods fill shelves, and local shopkeepers collapse under unfair competition. Every ringgit that should fund schools, hospitals and infrastructure is stolen from the rakyat.

In places like Kampung Segambut Dalam, the scale of takeover is undeniable. Entire rows of shops, from groceries to motorcycle workshops and eateries, are Indonesian-run. The streets no longer feel like Kuala Lumpur but like a transplanted Jakarta.

Such dominance is not chance. It is purchased protection, sustained month after month.

Fairness

Which brings us to the question: where is the federal territories minister? Where is the mayor of Kuala Lumpur?

This is not about rejecting foreign workers. It is about fairness. Malaysians are not against those who work legally and contribute honestly. But we cannot accept a system where locals are strangled by rules while foreigners buy their way out.

We cannot accept enforcement agencies that pocket envelopes instead of enforcing laws. We cannot accept a government that acts only when the rakyat shout loud enough.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the Immigration Department must act decisively: tighten inspections, revoke licences tied to abuse, seize contraband and deport those who flout the law.

But none of this will endure unless corruption is rooted out. As long as officers can be bought, every crackdown will be temporary and every promise hollow.

Foreign shops are not the disease. They are the symptom. The real disease is corruption, a cancer that eats our institutions, turns laws into jokes and punishes Malaysians for following the rules.

Minister in the PM’s Dept (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa

The federal territories minister and the mayor must answer for this. Their silence has already allowed illegality and bribery to flourish.

The rakyat do not need excuses. They need leaders with the courage to break the cycle, clean up enforcement and defend the people.

If they refuse, they stand not with the rakyat but with the corrupt. - Mkini

---

MAHATHIR MOHD RAIS is a former Federal Territories Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional secretary.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.