EcoSymbiont: Recommend strategy to strengthen sovereign security and fight crime.

Source from Capital Passport scanning

I would like to recommend Ministry of Home Affairs to implement identity verification and reporting for all types of commercial lodging and public transportation to authority in order to assist investigation and crime prevention.

The scope of identity verification and reporting may cover all sort of lodging including hotel, resort, guesthouse, hostel, labour quarters& campsite as well as public transportation especially intercity type. Needless to say telco sim card activation must be registered with valid national identification or passport.

The Singapore Hotelier Association(SHA) had requested their member to comply. clause 3, identification verification and reporting, for the purpose as enumerated below;

3. Purposes for the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Personal Data

3.1 Generally, SHA collects, uses and discloses your Personal Data for the following purposes:

(a) responding to your queries, feedback, complaints and requests;

(b) verifying your identity;

(c) managing the administrative and business operations of SHA and complying with internal policies and procedures;

(d) facilitating business asset transactions (which may extend to any mergers, acquisitions or asset sales) involving any of the Entities;

(e) matching any Personal Data held which relates to you for any of the purposes listed herein;

(f) requesting feedback or participation in surveys, as well as conducting market research and/or analysis for statistical, profiling or other purposes for us to review, develop and improve the quality of our products and services;

(g) preventing, detecting and investigating crime and analysing and managing commercial risks;

(h) facilities management (including but not limited to maintaining the security of our premises);

(i) managing the safety and security of our premises and services (including but not limited to carrying out CCTV surveillance and conducting security clearances);

(j) monitoring or recording phone calls and customer-facing interactions for quality assurance, employee training and performance evaluation and identity verification purposes;

(k) in connection with any claims, actions or proceedings (including but not limited to drafting and reviewing documents, transaction documentation, obtaining legal advice, and facilitating dispute resolution), and/or protecting and enforcing our contractual and legal rights and obligations;

(l) conducting investigations relating to disputes, billing or fraud;

(m) meeting or complying with any applicable rules, laws, regulations, codes of practice or guidelines issued by any legal or regulatory bodies which are binding on SHA (including but not limited to responding to regulatory complaints, disclosing to regulatory bodies and conducting audit checks, due diligence and investigations); and/or

(n) purposes which are reasonably related to the aforesaid.

Although the purpose of my suggestion is not much differ from the above but I would like to highlight that the problem in Malaysia is far more serious than Singapore as such the reward of implementing such measure would yield benefit multiple times compare to the latter. The identification document with the person photograph shall be valid national identification card, passport or UNHRC card(for Refugee). The purpose is to allow authority to verify from online platform probably link to immigration custom, within a few minutes, as and when necessary.

The recommendation if enacted would require all hotelier to register with authority and take part in crime prevention and investigation. By require hotelier to report to authority within 24 hours upon guest check-in& check-out will allow authority to trace the whereabout of visitor. This is a self-governing system whereby the industry take part to assist authority fight crime as well as regulate themselves. The same also applicable public transport such as railway, bus and flight.

The benefits of identification reporting are as enumerated below;

1. trace, confirm, and detect overstay of visitor in the country.

2. Prevent crime by increase their visibility and traceability.

3. Create a network with hotelier and public transport operator in crime prevention and investigation. Hotelier and public transport operator may cooperate with authority and law enforcer to fight crime by reporting suspicious client to authority. Authority may upload 'WANTED PERSON' to hotelier and public transport operator system or even surveillance camera (CCTV) for a more cost and time effective crime investigation and action. This reduce significant cost and resource of police force while create higher safety index.

4. While tracing visitor location, authority may also detect illegal hotelier operator which is rampant in Malaysia. Many of budget hotel and guesthouse in Malaysia is operating without license which means they; escape from paying tax, lodging premises do not comply with Fire Department (Bamboo)& UBBL (Uniform Building By Law) requirements, operating without business license& hotelier license& even possible of conducting illegal activities. I personally experience some cases in Melaka and Kuala Lumpur. Authority may detect and investigate if visitor not stay in their relatives accommodation is not residing in any accommodation in the country.

5. Refer to 1., confirmation of visitor lodging allow investigation to be carry out should there be any crime cases such as thief, robbery, injury, murder, terrorism, possession of fire arm, illegal drugs and insurance claim.

6. Refer to 1., if visitor is staying in family or relatives accommodation then they may report the address to the immigration custom upon enter and exit of the country thus not reporting is necessary during their stay in their relative's accommodation.

7. In the event of force majeur or major riot or national curfew or epidemic outbreak or anything of such nature then it will facilitate reporting to their respective embassy for updating of their safety or repatriation.

8. In event involve serious injury(e.g. coma, unconscious, amputation of limb and brain damage) and fire and fatalities, the hotelier is able to assist in reporting to their respective embassy which may contact his/her next of kin.

9. Report may act as basis for any dispute or complaint between the hotelier and their client or to third party.

10. Compulsory to show photograph identification document when travel in public transport will reduce illegal immigrant significantly since most of them travel in public transport.

11. Report of visitor when taking public transport allow tracing and monitor trend of visitor thus allow tourism industry to understand their movement to formulate more effective strategy for the market. Crime investigation can make use of it to detect the visitor movement for more effective action instead of searching in blind thus reduce significant cost and time of police.

12. refer to 4, Data from the reporting may be use to assist for tally with tax submission. Authority may conduct interim check on the hotelier's premises for statutory compliances. This assist government to implement regulation regarding building structural compliance as well as tax collection thus not only reduce the cost of enforce law but also capture and generate more revenue for the country.

13. Reporting their legal document also allow authority to detect any irregularity such as their type of visa. for example, if visitor on tourist visa is residing in labour camp for more than usual days then he may have illegally work in the country. likewise if visitor on work permit for domestic maid is found residing in 5 stars hotel for more than usual days then she might have work as prostitute or so. of course, it is just detection and may not be the truth, further investigation may be carry out to find out the truth. The notion is to close the loopholes.

14. Allow authority to analyse and profiling nationality ghetto and movement of people according to month of the year for more effective planning.

As of July 2018, Malaysia is report to have 600,000 illegal workers, official figure, and 2 million foreign workers. The actual number may be much higher than that since myself encounter construction site with approximately 80% of the workers without valid working permit. Furthermore, Malaysia is listed along with country like Thailand and Venezuela, as Tier 3 country by the State Department of the United State. The lowest within the Tiers System.

How the tiers defined are as below;

TIER 1

Countries whose governments fully meet the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards.

TIER 2

Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.

TIER 2 WATCH LIST

Countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards AND:

a) The absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing;

b) There is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons from the previous year; or

c) The determination that a country is making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with minimum standards was based on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.

TIER 3

Countries whose governments do not fully meet the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.

This put Malaysia behind many developing countries such as Burkina Farso, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Ghana, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Kenya and Timor-Leste. This is humiliating and unforgiving but what more insulting is the problem have plague Malaysia for years, resulting significant loss in terms of job opportunity, foreign investment, tourism, quality of life, health and image of the country. If your ministry have done something proofing Malaysia had done significant effort to improve the situation that meet the minimum standard then please kindly arrange to upgrade Malaysia onto higher tier otherwise I suggest your ministry to diligently carry out whatever necessary for it to happen.

I recognise the difficulty in curbing illegal immigrant as well as the social problem ensue. My recommendation only targeting on the post-entry whereas the border control still need to find ways to respond to the ever challenging task from both within(corruption and negligence) and outside Malaysia (immigrant& control from their country of origin). Your ministry responsibility is heavy one where everyone able to sleep peace and sound very much depend upon.

I hope you kindly consider my recommendation and more importantly hope it reduce human trafficking, crime rate and create more revenue for the country while make the country a safer country to live in.