A deep-rooted culture of corruption

THE culture of corruption within the Immigration Department at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has been a flagrant shame for years.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing was spot on in exposing it last year when he went to the aid of a Chinese national who claimed that she was asked to pay RM3,000 to be allowed entry into the country.

Tiong has been vindicated by the latest arrests of 60 people under three Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) special operations, Ops Pump, Ops Pump 2.0 and Ops Setting, stretching over six months.

They were part of a syndicate that reportedly brought in large numbers of foreign workers illegally.

The detained included 49 immigration staff, among them an officer with 20 years’ service. The others nabbed were a police officer, two agents and eight holders of “mule” accounts.

Another key player in the racket, a Bangladeshi, remains at large but is believed to be still in Malaysia.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said investigations were conducted over six months with information gathered from various sources in KLIA.

Tiong’s arrival at KLIA’s Terminal 1 on June 30 last year became a racially-tinged controversy after a news portal reported that he had “barged into the restricted zone without a permit” to free the woman.

She was an assistant to a senior official of a Chinese government-owned TV station who came to do her PhD at a local university.

While her superior was allowed in, the woman was told that her travel documents were not in order and that she had to pay RM3,000 first.

However, she was allowed entry after the minister’s intervention.

Tiong later disclosed that the intercession was the fifth he was involved in. Dismissing claims that he went to the restricted arrival area illegally, he said he had a valid pass and that he was also accompanied by MACC officers.

A day later, he highlighted the “culture of corruption” among a number of immigration officers and urged the MACC to investigate the wanton abuse of power at the country’s main entry point.

The then Immigration Department director-general, Datuk Ruslin Jusoh, pledged that a thorough probe would be carried out.

Last week, Azam Baki said a senior officer in his 40s was believed to be the main arranger of the “counter setting” method to enable those without proper documents to go through designated lanes after paying bribes through agents.

The man, who supposedly influenced 50 officers into being part of the syndicate, was detained on Sept 5 when he and several others tried to flee the country.

The modus operandi was quite simple. Agents would contact the immigration officers in the group via social media for a suitable date to bring foreigners into Malaysia.

The officers would give a date and time, and the agents would send photographs and passport details.

The officers would assign a particular counter for immigration clearance, after which the agents would send the foreigners to their planned destinations. The bribe for each foreigner let through the special lanes was between RM200 and RM2,500.

The syndicate used secret code names, some of which can be construed as racial slurs, for the different nationalities. The amount of bribes also differed between them.

Those from Bangladesh were referred to as “budak sekolah” (school boy) and the cost to bring them in was the highest at RM2,500 per person.

Myanmar nationals were “junta” and the rate of RM1,500. Pakistanis were “carpet” and cost RM1,300 each. For foreigners from India, termed “kicap (soya sauce) or “roti canai”, the rate was RM800. For those from China, “limau” (orange), the rate was RM350; Vietnamese (lychee or Nguyen) was RM350; and Indonesians “salak” (snake fruit) was RM300.

Yemenis and Uzbeks had no code names, but the rate was RM1,000 and RM500, respectively.

For the corrupt officers, the pickings were indeed highly lucrative before they were caught.

The total amount of cash seized during the three operations was RM1.49mil, including US$9,900 and 5,470 Thai baht.

A total of RM518,250, stashed in a suitcase, was seized from a Grade KP22 female immigration officer’s home in Pahang.

Another RM248,443 was hidden under the bed of a Grade K19 immigration officer in Melaka.

For the record, the salary of Grade KP22 immigration officers is between RM2,200 and RM4,700 per month, and Grade KP 19 officers are paid between RM1,300 and RM4,000.

The MACC has also frozen 215 bank accounts with RM3.6mil, in addition to impounding nine cars, 13 motorcycles, 27 pieces of gold, 12 luxury watches and 75 pieces of jewellery.

The onus on cleaning up the rot in the department is now on its newly-appointed director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban.

Like his predecessors, he has also vowed that there would be no compromise in acting against any officers who abuse authority or violate laws.

Recognising the department’s 11 vulnerabilities, he has promised to implement comprehensive reforms based on recommendations from MACC.

“We have taken note of the weaknesses that enabled the syndicate to bring in foreigners via the counter setting method,” he said.

“Among other things, the MACC has proposed that Immigration officers, including supervisors, stationed at the counters of KLIA Terminals 1 and 2 be barred from using their mobile phones while on duty to prevent contact by outside parties.”

The MACC has also proposed regular staff rotation and that the schedule for assigning officers at the counters be finalised only after officers have reported for duty, with assignments of counters decided by staff from elsewhere.

Clearly, the new DG must know that much more needs to be done to extirpate the deep-rooted culture of corruption in the department.

Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this observation of Irish philosopher Edmund Burke: Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.

The views expressed here are the author’s own.