Malaysia NOT AT ALL in safe hands

Three cases of security personnel involving in theft or robbery took place in Klang Valley within a short span of ten days, sparking fears among Malaysians that the security personnel supposed to guard our condominiums and offices could be either illegal or ineligible individuals with an evil intent.

Due to lack of police cops in the country, we have relied heavily upon security personnel in recent years to safeguard our neighborhoods and properties. According to home ministry statistics, there are a total of 751 registered security firms in the country offering as many as 226,368 security guards, or a ratio of one to every 123 Malaysians.

In addition, the Security Services Association of Malaysia has said, of the 280,000 security guards employed nationwide, as many as 180,000 are foreigners. 53% of them are legal foreign workers, 11% illegal foreigners while Malaysians only make up 36%.

The Private Agencies Act 1971 has made it very clear that only Malaysians and specific Nepalese nationals can be hired as security personnel, meaning many of the security guards in the country have been unlawfully employed.

Poor public security has made the security industry one that is truly lucrative, and many operators fail to abide by the law given the fact that enforcement is almost non-existent. It is learned that some security firms can make up tp RM1,000 a month from each illegally hired foreign security guard, or RM200,000 to RM300,000 in monthly profits.

On October 23, a bank security guard working in Subang Jaya shot a 37-year-old female clerk of the bank and ran away with the cash in the safety vault.

The Indonesian suspect not only carries a fake ID, but has also opened an account at the bank while skipping the police verification to obtain the license for ten different types of gun weapons and firearms.

How can the detection process be so poor?

If the ID carried by the suspect is fake, why could he escape undetected over the so many levels of verification inspections?

It is imperative that the home ministry and police seriously vet through the applications for the positions of security guards to make sure they are Malaysian citizens with no criminal records and with at least six months of relevant working experience and professional skills.

I am wondering whether the police conformed to the standard operating procedures when issuing the firearm license to the suspect.

If our MyKad boasts enhanced security features, how could the suspect get over with it and be allowed to open a bank account in this country using false identity?

The home ministry is always proud of its sophisticated biometric technology, and is planning to issue ID cards for foreign workers in the country by November 15. But, will this help if even a foreigner carrying a fake ID can be hired as a security guard?

It is understood that one of the conditions to set up a security firm is that 30% of the company's stake must be held by either a retired senior police officer, retired military officer or a senior civil servant. This sort of explains the lax supervision because the authorities often overlook the management, personnel or equity changes of the companies.

If foreigners can gain access to firearms so easily with a fake ID, I doubt whether such firearms could fall into the hands of criminal syndicates, which is possible given the fact that the security industry is currently in a state of "anarchy" and even police weapons could disappear.

The large number of foreigners working as security guards has highlighted the problems encountered by the country at this moment, including poor efficiency on the part of government agencies, pathetically low level of spirit of rule of law, irregularities in our security mechanism, as well as our over-reliance on foreign workers.

Can a country with this many problems ever become a developed nation at all? I doubt.

mysinchew