The recent attack on security guards in Bukit Raja, Klang, where one fatality was recorded and several others were injured, is just the tip of the iceberg. According to police, the motive behind this incident could be gangsters fighting over turf.
This is not the first time security guards have been attacked with the intention of intimidating residents, giving residents the impression that the security company they hired is incompetent. The result is a changing of the guards, so to speak.
The inspector-general of police, meanwhile, in relation to the recent attack, urged the public not to be pressured by gangsters offering security services, but instead, report the matter to the police.
It is strange how there is a sudden proliferation of guarded communities in many neighbourhoods in the Klang Valley. Could it be that the upmarket “gated community” concept has snob appeal and is being emulated more for prestige than fighting crime?
Malaysia has always been a peaceful country where restrictions on movement imposed by fear is alien. Even the police have undertaken a low-profile approach to community policing, except at certain times of the year when the “balik kampung” phenomenon leaves empty urban homes at risk of being broken into and roads become more dangerous than usual.
Or, is it a case of gangsters creating an atmosphere of insecurity ripe for their picking? That is, the protection racket has been honed to perfection: pay the crooks protection money by way of hiring their unregistered companies. In short, racketeering has taken a legitimate veneer.
The home minister said that licensed companies have been bought over by triads and criminals under the cover of which crimes are organised. This was confirmed by the inspector-general of police and the Security Services Association of Malaysia.
Whatever the answer, the security industry is, without a doubt, booming. However, the incidence of crimes committed by security guards themselves are of urgent concern, like the murder of an AmBank officer two years ago by an illegal foreign security guard, who robbed the very bank he was hired to protect. Soon after that incident, the authorities promised a clampdown to ensure all security companies are licensed and their guards legal and risk-free.
These companies were expected to submit their employees for police screening and training. The police have made themselves ready but the companies are shying away.
More terrible is the number of unregistered companies plying the trade, hiring any Tom, Dick and Harry as guards. Indeed, these men should be tracked down, but why hire them in the first place?
Fear is no excuse. Residents can come together and, with the help of the police, keep neighbourhoods safe. The Rukun Tetangga, when properly organised, can act as a 24/7 neighbourhood watch.
NST
April 22, 2015 @ 12:00pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Residents in guarded communities are being forced to pay protection money – to their security guards.
Many of these guards are nothing more than gangsters who are legitimising their protection racket under the guise of providing security. Residents are effectively paying to protect themselves from those who stand guard.
Even the Security Services Association of Malaysia (PPKKM) admits that many of its member companies are backed by gangs.
Several residents associations (RAs) in Klang Valley are trapped with the gang-linked thugs or ex-convicts as guards. Office bearers of some RAs claimed they were forced to continue hiring these companies after being threatened that gangsters would cause problems if their services were terminated.
There have also been cases of fights between rival groups vying for the security business. The most recent case involving a turf war among gangsters in Bandar Bukit Raja, Klang had left one security guard dead and six others injured.
A representative of an RA, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many associations were enticed by gang-linked companies because of the low rates. “They charge about RM4 or RM5 an hour. But later we find that these guys are not even trained. Some come to work drunk,” he said.
Another RA committee member claimed that fights had broken out at her gated community’s guard post.
An RA chairman said when his neighbourhood was being patrolled by a suspected gang-linked company, houses of those who did not pay were frequently broken into.
A security industry veteran, who handles several RA contracts in the Klang Valley, said his clients found it difficult to get rid of gang-linked guards.
“One RA asked me to take over from a gang but I declined. No one dares to take over from a gang, it is something we don’t want to get involved in,” he said.
He said gang-patrolled neighbourhoods were on the rise in Klang, Rawang and some parts of Subang Jaya and Lembah Subang, with about RM2,000 from each housing area.
“If they control many areas, the profits are big. That’s why gangs expand their territories and end up clashing with rivals for control,” he added.
He said there was no certain way for an RA to check if a company had underworld backing or not, as most are operated under the licences of bigger security companies.
Community Policing Malaysia (CP) founder Kuan Chee Heng said RAs should vet potential security providers with the police to avoid paying protection money to the gangs.
NATIONBy Nicholas Cheng
Monday, 18 May 2015
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation
