YOURSAY | ‘You are teaching them to come out with absurd excuses for bribery.’

Immigration officer caught napping, 12 foreign passports in his pants

PW Cheng: I refer to this quote by a former KLIA staff member “Secondly, low salaries among government employees. Just imagine - what job opportunities does a low-ranking immigration officer have after retirement?

“The only thing he knows is immigration work. So naturally, he will try to make money by becoming a middle-person.”

That comment appears to be a harebrained comment. You are teaching them to come up with absurd excuses and probably giving them extra bullets to be corrupted.

Just for argument sake, let’s consider these:

1. What about those holding high positions with high salaries and who are also corrupted? I remember there was an Immigration director-general who was caught and charged with corruption years ago. So how do you compromise on that?

2. I am sure they were fully aware of their salary scale when they applied for the job. Nobody forced them to take up the job. So what gives them the right or entitlement to go for these illegal activities to enrich themselves?

There is no other reason than the culture and greed, plus this appears to be the “perfect” policy for corruption, merely giving offenders a slap on the wrist or transferring them to another section or department.

Hrmph:  Salary is low so a person is justified in taking bribes and indulging in criminal activities? At every juncture, our society sought to play down corruption as if it is an acceptable crime given the “right” circumstances.

Is corruption acceptable if one is poor? Because that would mean any poor person could steal.

Is corruption acceptable if one is put in a situation where the opportunity to take is there? That would mean that shoplifting in a supermarket is excusable.

The government needs to rewire society. Corruption is stealing. Plain and simple. Every infraction must not be let off with just a slap on the wrist.

As it is, many already think that corruption is not really a crime. Educate society from young. Issue minute guidelines and fatwas, if necessary. It is never too late but it has to involve a much larger endeavour than just prosecuting the big fish.

Mueller: The argument that they get low salaries and thus naturally would attempt to get more by abusing the public trust is not helping the case.

In fact, it clearly means the entire department needs a purge. Processes that are otherwise manned by humans need to be automated. The fewer people in the system, the fewer cracks there would be.

If the government cannot be trusted to do their jobs, they should be given less funding by the public and fewer responsibilities as they are clearly too incompetent to perform and too irresponsible to reform.

XED: They complain of low salaries so that they can take bribes to cover the cost of living.

In the first place, corruption adds to the cost of living because those who pay bribes (or do they suffer extortion from government officers?) pass on the costs to consumers and taxpayers.

Have we ever wondered why government buildings are dilapidated and filthy? It is because the contractors who undertake repair, maintenance, and cleaning have to pay bribes.

They also have to give kickbacks to the “crooks” in government offices and the intermediaries so that they can get the business. Being squeezed, they cut corners and deliver little or nothing.

MS: The problem in all these cases is the obvious lack of guidelines to ensure there is no mixing of work and leisure. There needs to be proper supervision to curb officers making something on the side.

With proper guidelines, there is a good chance that those who cannot change will at least, not get caught.

Given who is involved in this, perhaps now is the time for the minister of guidelines (remember him?) to issue some on when to sleep on the job, how not to conceal 12 passports in the waistband and how to ensure that “corruption and KLIA remain inseparable”.

And for those who chance upon a sleeping colleague with a bulging waistband, a guideline on how to buat bodoh (act stupid) will be useful.

Guidelines are vital because what we have here is a case of kekurangan pengajaran (lack of education).

Koel: This is an utter disgrace and the director-general of the Immigration Department should be sacked for keeping corrupt staff on the job despite being found to be involved in wrongdoing.

Poor management of this important unit is at the heart of this ongoing scandal. Has Malaysian immigration turned into a corrupt human trafficking syndicate?

Anyone working in immigration and found to be involved in such corrupt practices should be sacked and arrested. These are traitors to the country.

They are selling the country to anyone paying money for entry. Do we even know how many human trafficking syndicates they have helped? Arrest the man and sack the useless DG.

Vijay47: Once again, Malaysiakini and commentators here are drawing unfair conclusions and making a mountain out of a non-existent molehill.

Firstly, the 12 passports were not hidden in the officer’s waistband, they were STORED in his pants to be submitted to the relevant counter later. You have to acknowledge that this is an exemplary officer tired after working hard like his Immigration colleagues. Thus, he took a short rest before continuing his duties.

Is this corruption? Is it wrong? As that university doctor demanded in the other case, everybody here owes the officer an apology. Or else police reports should be made.

The Immigration Department is quite justified in imposing only an alleged slap on the wrist; sleeping on the job should not be encouraged, however industrious the officer is.

Yet other action is necessary. The lady officer who reported him to higher authorities should be seriously reprimanded for injuring his image. The MACC will of course take no action since there is no or insufficient evidence of corruption!

So, everybody, be careful when you fly.

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