GET RID OF THE NIGERIANS

The STAR September 28 printed an anecdote which apparently has been circulating via SMS. It is titled The Malaysian Dilemma and goes like this:-

THE MALAYSIAN DILEMMA
Get Vietnamese workers,
dogs go missing;
Get Bangladeshi workers,
Malay girls go missing;
Get Indonesian workers,
money go missing;
Get Indian workers,
jewellery goes missing;
Get Chinese workers,
husbands go missing.

To that perhaps we can add
“with Nigerians they either
cheat you of your money or you could lose your life”

Nigerian have well earned a dubious distinction of being scammers trying to cheat and phish people out of their money. They are legendary for the well crafted email seeking assistance for transferring money out of the country. The usual modus operandi is this wogs, sending an email claiming that they are the blood relative of some deposed leader who has in his life time slushed and stashed away some money secretly. His relative, the sender of the email now needs your assistance namely details of your bank account to transfer the money into your account. For the assistance you are promised a mouth-watering cut. Of course in order to earn the windfall a small administrative fee, read a couple of thousand is required from you.

It is amazing how many people fall for this scam. Recently a foreign broadcast TV station showed a clip of a scene in a cyber café in Nigeria where Nigerians were at the computer terminals – all of them were busy executing their scams.

Malaysians can thank the British for one thing. They did not bring in Nigerian migrants. Imagine with the stout and burly bodies together with their violent behavior, we Malaysians would have been easy picking or to say bluntly would have ended up as dead meat. Just observe them in Malaysia, strutting around with a chip on their shoulder and with their attitude problem, you will know what I am saying. Add to that is their loutish behaviors, boisterous merrymaking and fighting.

Just how did they come into Malaysia? Some come in as students, just the same way how they enter United Kingdom. Sign up for a course at come downmarket and financially strapped college. Student visa in hand, arrive and in a matter of time they study at leisure while being engaged in crime. Of course most of these colleges are not bothered about their attendance so long as their fees have been paid.

Another modus operandi is to enter as visitors. Unlike Singapore who prefers and emphasize quality visitors and those with spending power, all the Nigerian need to do is land in Thailand. With enough money to pay for a bus trip to Malaysia and a few dollars in the pocket, a bagful of imitation watches, belts, cigarette lighters and pens and a bottle of coke to quench their thirst they enter Malaysia masquerading as tourist but in actual fact itinerant traders and petty criminals. In Johor they are a regular sight every night at restaurants and hawker centers. It is the same in other nig cities.

Many years ago living in Kuala Lumpur, I once called the Immigration Department and informed them of the street where these Nigerians and other Blacks had set up home. Despite my regular calls the place was hardly raided. It must have been because the Blacks still were there long after my calls.

Many can remember the brutal murder of a family in Kuala Lumpur of committed by Nigerians. One would have thought lessons would have been learned and particularly to curb these Nigerians from entering the country.

Obviously, lessons haven’t been learned. Malaysians have been shocked to read about the sexual assault and murder of two women in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur. It has all the hall mark of a typical crime committed by Nigerians - Brute force, extreme violence, sexual assault and the end result of murder.

In the aftermath of the murder, we also learn that Kepong has become a settlement for Nigerians. Imagine there is even a Nigerian restaurant. Clearly a Nigerian settlement has or at least is shape in Kepong. Should the police, RELA immigration and other authorities conduct raid, check, verify and apprehend the dubious Nigerians and other Blacks who have made their home in Kepong? Are their stout and burly bodies and the bodily harm they can rain causing fear in the authorities so much so that they turn a blind eye to their activities in Malaysia? Malaysian do not wish to see safe neighbourhoods to soon turn into of Harlem, Bronx or the Los Angeles riots to be played out in our streets. Keep our neighbourhood safe and get rid of these dubious Nigerians, Africans and other wogs fast.

Norman Fernandez

LUCKY ARE SOME

The former Inspector General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, in his weekly column Point of View in the Sunday Star on September 23, wrote an article titled Negate Not The Hard Work. It was an interesting read as Tun’s articles are.

However, what caught my attention was when he related a recent burglary in his house. This is what Tun wrote:-

“…My house was burgled on September 5, I lost a DVD player, three speakers, some DVD discs and a bunch of keys. I wasn’t crestfallen because the moment I rang up the police to report, patrol cars, the investigation officer, the dog and forensic teams and several high ranking officers swarmed my house. They were certainly on the ball. Three beautiful fingerprints were lifted, hopefully not my maid’s. Even the IGP contacted me.”

Imagine calling up the police and reporting the loss of a DVD set and a few DVD discs and the police rushed and they were on the case and were at the crime scene - policemen, patrolcars, forensic team, dog unit, investigation officer and even the IGP calling. Just like some American TV serial.

Reading Tun narrate his experience made me feel envious and understandably so.

A few years ago, my mum new house was burgled. The keys to the house had been just been given and the house had just renovated. Within three months of moving in my mum’s house was burgled. Never before had our house ever been burgled. Understandly my mum was in a state of shock and after regaining her composure she telephoned the police-station. What happened thereafter continue to be a topic of conversation now and then.

A few policemen appeared at the door step within minutes. They walked around the house. Went upstairs and found that the burglars had entered from the roof. That wasn’t difficult to deduce, afterall there were some foot prints and a little blood stain on the wall which indicated that the burglar(s) must have slid down the wall from the roof. Then the policemen looked at the wall to see if there were any finger prints and unfortunately found none. The policemen then asked a few cursory questions like what did my mum lose and when my mum said the burglar(s) had only taken a little money and little else, the police immediately kind of wrapped up their investigation. The policemen promised mum that they will investigate and left. That was all. I am inclined to believe that the case file must be still active. Afterall the crime remains unresolved.

Next day my mum decided to carry out her own high profile investigation. Since the house had only recently been renovated, she made out a list of all the persons and workmen who had been to my house. My mum made phone calls to the various workmen purportedly complaining about some defect in the work done. Most responded to the telephone call and almost everyone said they would come around and take a look. Except one and guess who. The person who did some work on the roof. First he did not respond to the telephone calls and after my mum’s persistent calls he answered. When my mum “complained” about a defect to the roof, he gave all sorts of excuse and said he was unable to come and take a look at the roof. Voila ! my mum had the lead and the suspect. What the policemen ought to have done, my mother within 24 hours of the crime could identify the likely suspect.

The only reason my mum refused to pursue the case further was her two lawyer sons who did not want their mum to endure time and expenses attending court in the event the suspect is charged. Being lawyers we know that due to the huge number of cases, it would be inevitable that this case would be postponed giving priority to earlier registered cases, part-heard or may be postponed for other reasons like I.O cuti, kursus or memberi keterangan dalam kes lain.

Yesterday, my friend Dason woke up and got a shock when he found out that his Honda CRV car which he had parked outside his house stolen. My friend went to the nearest police station, the policemen at the desk took the police report and the policemen at the end merely muttered “o.k yah”. That’s was it.

I am sure many others may have similar experiences. I write this piece simply to relate the experience my mum and my friend had when they were victims of crime and in contrast to the privilege accorded the former Inspector General of Police who had merely lost a DVD set, couple of DVD discs and a bunch of keys. In short what I want to say is this, Tun should consider how lucky and privilege he.

Norman Fernandez

ABANDONED BANGLADESHI WORKERS .IS SOMETHING AMISS?

According to the Home Office Ministry, 29,442 foreign workers had arrived in Malaysia between September 1 and September 16 while the Immigration Department said that over the past one month almost 2,000 foreign workers arrived daily. Newspapers have in recent days have given extensive coverage of almost 2000 Bangladeshis arriving with legal documentations who are now camping at the KL International Airport car park because their agents and employees have failed to collect them. The non-governmental organization Tenaganita is said to be sheltering almost 3,000 Bangladeshi workers in similar predicament. Even, the Catholic Church in Rawang is providing refuge to abandoned Bangladeshi workers.

The sheer number of foreign workers particularly Bangladeshi workers arriving daily defies logic and there is every reason to believe that something is amiss. Could this be the work of unscrupulous outsourcing agents who have found an easy way to make fast buck? Could the outsourcing agents who brought these workers not be traced and taken to task? Should Wisma Putra not summon the Labour Attache at the Bangladeshi High Commission and demand an explanation.? Rightfully,Wisma Putra should investigate whether the privilege given to the Bangladeshi High Commission labour department to approve workers applications is being abused. How could the department approve workers application in such magnitude or are they in cohoots with some people with a secret agenda to transfer and populate Malaysia with Bangladeshis.

The Home Affairs Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry ought to investigate how foreign workers are being issued documents, Judging from the high incidence of workers being abandoned upon arrival can only means that there is a mismatch between the number of workers needed and the number of jobs available. The government should revert to the old policy of allowing employers to recruit foreign workers directly in tandem with their requirement instead of recruiting through agents.

Already Malaysia plays host to almost 2,000,000 legitimate migrant workers not counting the thousands of undocumented migrants particularly the Indonesians. Lest the government forget, Malaysians have enough problems with these undocumented migrants and particularly the Indonesians. We do not need Bangladeshis to compound the problem. Is the government only going to act after the problem has spiralled over?

Norman Fernandez

ONE BIG PIG MESS

The September 21, deadline set by Alor Gajah Municipal Council for the pig farmers in Paya Mengkuang, Bukit Beruang and Kampung Man Kok to reduce the pigs from 160,000 pigs to 48,000 pigs as has gone by and till todate the pig farmers have been able only to take out 23,824 pigs. The pig farmers are now given until October 4 to reduce the pig population. It is going to be an uphill task to reduce 97,241 pigs in ten days or so. Thus, it is inevitable that another tense situation perhaps even worst than the events of September 4 to happen. For politicians from either divide, it provides them an excellent opportunity to gain political mileage.

Some have instinctively claimed that the action of the Alor Gajah Municipal Council smacks racism. Now these people unlike the long suffering residents neighboring the pig farms, fail to understand that pig farms emit nauseating smell which permeates the air for miles. Thus, it isn’t surprising to observe that even the Chinese (unless they are in the trade) often do not want to live close to areas where pig rearing activities take place. So it is inappropriate to look at this issue from a racial perspective.

Now, everyone knows that Chinese rear pigs for pork. Pork is part of the Chinese diet. Pig rearing in areas such as Paya Mengkuang is also not new. Pig rearing farms in these areas have been in existence for more than 30 years. The State Government and the Alor Gajah Municipal Council would not have become mired in the present situation had they from the onset regulated properly the pig farming industry. They ought to have known that pig farming can cause environmental problems if not properly regulated.

The relevant authorities in granting license to pig farmers ought to have made it a condition requiring the farmers among others not to exceed the permitted quota of pigs allowed at any one time in the farms and also requiring pig farms to have proper sewerage and solid waste management mechanism. The lack of environmentally friendly pig rearing farms in the state could be blamed on the state and local authorities own policies and indifferences.

Most pig farmers have been reluctant to spend money simply because the authorities are not prepared to not only gazette but also alienate land for pig rearing.

Due to the insecurity of tenure, many pig farms have instead antiquated sump pits to neutralize the noxious smells. Many sump pits are not even maintained properly. Some pig farmers take the easy way out by releasing the solid waste into the drains which naturally and inevitably finds its way into the rivers and seas and thereby causing immense environmental damage.

So the fault must also lie with the local authorities for creating the situation. Had the authorities provided the security of tenure which the pig farmers needed, in return the pig farmers would have been prepared to invest in proper sewage and waste management mechanism which do cost million of Ringgit. No right thinking pig farmer is going to spend millions installing sewage and waste management and create environmentally friendly pig farm when he lives with the fear that the authorities may anytime revoke his business or take way his land.

It must be remembered that many countries like Australia and Denmark have large environmental friendly pig farms and the reason for the success – clear and fair regulations.

One wonders what has happened to all the Lawatan Sambil Belajar to Denmark, Holland, Australia and Japan to learn about environmental friendly pig rearing. It can safely be assumed that these study tours like many others were nothing more then junkets (Riadah dan Relaks) at tax payers expenses.

It is unfortunate that the authorities lack of foresight and their failure to regulate and set the ground rules has now made the issue to morph and become racial and religious. Chinese on one side alleging that the state is meddling without offering solution and help while the Malays blaming the Chinese for being insensitive.

Norman Fernandez