Media Statement – 22/5/2023
Justice Demands Revocation of the ‘6-month Refusal to Entry’ of Singaporean Couple who were allegedly dissatisfied with Malaysian Immigration Officer/s
Public Officers Must Always Be Courteous
MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is shocked and ashamed that Malaysia had banned a Singaporean couple from entering Malaysia for 6 months just for wanting to complain about the actions of Immigration officers (New Straits Times, 22/5/2023).
Malaysia should be welcoming of public complaints from anyone against public officers and government departments/agencies, and not be perceived as ‘retaliating against any that dare to complaint’.
According to the NST news report, the couple’s complaints or dissatisfaction was, amongst others, about the stamping of the Malaysian Immigration entry stamp on the passport, where allegedly the officer had left a blank page on the passport, and stamped the page following. ‘…"I think this needs to be standardised because its not fair for us (Singaporeans) to be paying for our passports and the officers are just wasting our pages…’
This may not be a big deal for people who sometimes travel overseas, but for those who regularly travel between countries, this may mean that the passport pages may run out early before the passport expires, thus requiring the passport holder to expend monies to get another NEW passport.
When the alleged victims asked about how to lodge a complaint, they were allegedly told to do it online – and when requesting assistance on how to do it online, they ended up being banned from entering Malaysia for 6 months.
‘"He told us to do it online, without explaining it to us. He also raised his voice and told us to do it outside the office. There was no need for him to act that way…’
‘"After my wife asked him a few times on how to do it on the website, he was irritated and took our passports from us. We were taken to another office on level 2 where we were issued with a 'Refusal of Entry' letter by one 'Asisten Superintenden Rexsus', an Indian female officer," said Qayyum…’
‘…He said when they asked for an explanation as to why they were issued with the 'Refusal of Entry' letter when they just want to know the reasons, she couldn't give them an answer. "Instead, she raised her voice and sarcastically gave us a choice of being banned from Malaysia for either 6 months or 1 year. After which, she told us we were banned for 6 months from entering Malaysia for no valid reason."…’
The conduct of Malaysian public officers, if true, is appalling and a national embarrassment. Public officers must at all times be respectful to people who seek their assistance, irrespective whether they are rich or poor, as in this case apparently the couple was travelling on a motorcycle.
In Malaysia, we have heard before about ‘bad’ behavior of public officers, even law enforcement. Ideally, they should always be courteous. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should ensure that public officers should always be courteous to the public, and a failure to do so ought to be a misconduct.
Complaint procedures should be made easy, and in fact where one cannot directly make a complaint to an officer on site, then there must be at least someone who is there to assist if complaints are to be lodged online.
The response to these dissatisfied clients of Malaysian immigration who wanted to seek clarification and/or lodge a complaint was the issuance of a Refusal of Entry into Malaysia for 6 months, which is shocking and unjust.
One must acknowledge that some amongst us are just FEARFUL of complaining against public officers or the government, and the State is duty bound to eliminate this fear, including the fear of retaliation by the government.
MADPET calls on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, the Minister and the government of Malaysia to immediately revoke and cancel the said ‘Refusal of Entry’, and to apologize to the victims.
An inquiry should also be done on the incident, and the alleged complaint with a view of ensuring justice be done, which may also include compensation for the victim/s and disciplinary actions. The problem may also have been caused by the inadequacy of staff, resulting in the few being overworked. If the couple committed a crime, charge them in court.
MADPET also calls on the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) to investigate, where the Immigration Department of Malaysia is under EAIC’s jurisdiction, and EAIC has the power to investigate any complaints of misconduct it receives from a member of the public or that are referred to it by any person. MADPET will try to also lodge a complaint.
EAIC should have the power to investigate any matter within its jurisdiction comes to its attention, without any requirement of a complaint lodged by anyone.
Charles Hector
For and on behalf of MADPET
Re: New Straits Times, 22/5/2023, Singaporean couple banned from Malaysia for questioning Immigration officer > https://www.nst.com.my/news/nst-viral/2023/05/912024/singaporean-couple-banned-malaysia-questioning-immigration-officer
Singaporean couple banned from Malaysia for questioning Immigration officer
KUALA LUMPUR: A Singaporean couple who had questioned the way an Immigration officer stamped their passports upon entering Malaysia, ended up being banned from entering the country for six months.
Sharing his ordeal on Facebook, Abdul Qayyum Rahim said he and his wife were heading to Johor Baru via the Tuas checkpoint (Second Link) on March 20.
"We were stuck at the checkpoint for an hour because there were only two counters open. When we arrived at the counter, the officer told us to remove our passports' covers in an impolite tone.
"I then removed the covers and gave them to her and after she verified our particulars, she proceeded to chop (stamp) the passports. Upon checking the passports, I noticed that the officer had purposely left a blank page on my passport. As for my wife's passport, she chopped on page 27 before scribbling on it and re-chopped on page 28 for no good reason," said Qayyum.
He said he then parked his motorcycle and they walked to the office where he asked a male officer the procedure on how to lodge a complaint against the officer at the counter.
"He told us to do it online, without explaining it to us. He also raised his voice and told us to do it outside the office. There was no need for him to act that way.
"After my wife asked him a few times on how to do it on the website, he was irritated and took our passports from us. We were taken to another office on level 2 where we were issued with a 'Refusal of Entry' letter by one 'Asisten Superintenden Rexsus', an Indian female officer," said Qayyum.
He said when they asked for an explanation as to why they were issued with the 'Refusal of Entry' letter when they just want to know the reasons, she couldn't give them an answer.
"Instead, she raised her voice and sarcastically gave us a choice of being banned from Malaysia for either 6 months or 1 year. After which, she told us we were banned for 6 months from entering Malaysia for no valid reason."
He said the officer at the counter was not wearing a nametag, so he couldn't get her name while the male officer at the first office wasn't wearing a proper uniform, just a t-shirt and a jacket.
"The female officer who issued us the letter at Level 2 office, her name is Asisten Superintenden 'Rexsus'," said Qayyum.
He added a friend of his also had a similar experience.
"She told me her boyfriend questioned why the officer stamped the centre of the page in his passport and the officer shouted at him and took them to the higher office," said Qayyum.
He said he just want a clarification on how and what is the proper procedure for the Malaysian Immigration to stamp passports.
"I think this needs to be standardised because its not fair for us (Singaporeans) to be paying for our passports and the officers are just wasting our pages.
"And also please look into this matter and do something about the officers on the ground. We understand this is their job, but the least they can do is treat us the way they want to be treated. I just hope with this post, Malaysia Immigration will take action on the procedure, the proper turnouts for an officer and also the proper way of treating foreigners coming in your country.
However, Qayyum's version of the incident has been disputed by other Facebook users, with some claiming that it was the couple who provoked the officer in the first place.
Others, meanwhile, said the the couple should not have questioned the way the officer carrying their duties and that it was just a small matter.
Facebook user Rahmat Mohamed commented, "Should not comment or challenge so much when you enter another country. Being Singaporean does not mean you have the entitlement. The country's immigration have every right to refuse entry to anyone if they feel you are a threat to them. I think you followed your emotion on this issue. It (is) a small matter."
Other users took pity to the officers, saying that they might have been very tired since they have to check multiple passports everyday.
Cubby Kuan commented, "Do you know in one day how many passports they
have to chop? Hundreds or maybe thousands of passport especially during
peak seasons. Imagine they have to turn all the passports page by page
to find the recent blank page to chop (so you don't waste your page),
then the last person in the line will need to sleep in the airport, no
need go out, wait for 10 hours the officer still haven't chop finish
because the need to find the page one by one to chop." - New Straits Times, 22/5/2023
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