MALAYSIA is a land of many blessings. But of late, global indexes, including the one measuring international organised crime, have consigned the country to a blighted spot.
No thanks to fiendish foreign criminals — and in some cases odious locals aiding and abetting them — who have made Malaysia their global operations centre.
This is no yearning, but there was a time when crime used to be committed by Malaysians against Malaysians in Malaysia. Like commerce, crime has gone global. On Oct 20, 2023, in a crackdown on illegal call centres, the police detained more than 1,000 individuals from Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe suspected of being involved in scam syndicates.
That reads like the manpower of a mega multinational. A month later, Malaysian police arrested seven Japanese men who were alleged to be involved in a phone scam after being informed by the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
A rare catch, it must be said, because they normally don't make it to the bad news section of the newspaper. Even at the dawn of the new year, organised crime by global thugs continued unabated.
On Friday, nine Chinese nationals — one kingpin and eight gambling operators — were arrested for being involved in an illegal online gambling syndicate that was grossing RM100,000 per day from customers in China, Hong Kong and Australia. If all this wasn't enough, 48 women, aged between 18 and 36, from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam were arrested on Saturday for being part of an "outcall girl" prostitution syndicate.
Fraud-related crimes (police data indicates that in just 11 months of last year, such crimes registered a dirty RM1.3 billion), prostitution, human trafficking, you name it, Malaysia has it. But why Malaysia is a question that needs to be asked.
Take the case of the undocumented 32 Indonesian women who were arrested on Saturday. Were they smuggled through our porous borders? Likely, if past influx is any guide. Many have been arrested and deported, though some return just as quickly.
Likely, too, is that they were victims of job scams, given the women's youthful age.
Lawyers say amendments to the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981 by making punishments punitive may help. Others say the government should do away with outsourcing such sensitive services to third parties. They may be right. z
Look at many of the recruitment agencies, beneficiaries of government outsourcing, bringing in foreign workers without proper approval despite the Human Resources Ministry warning them repeatedly to not do so. The recruitment agencies' recalcitrance perhaps points to the ministry's softly, softly approach.
If the ministry can't control its outsourced services, it must do away with recruitment agencies. Being lax isn't going to help the government in any way. The Human Resources Ministry says it has blacklisted the company that abandoned the 171 Bangladeshi migrant workers after promising them jobs.
Blacklisting is a slap on the wrist, though legal action is promised. Trust us, the company would moult into another outfit with a new name and a fresh set of directors in no time to do the same prohibited activity.
Indulgence is a mother of invention. It is time for Malaysia to take punitive measures against human traffickers. Don't just do it for the Trafficking in Persons report. Do it for the good of humanity.