Published by The Star

PETALING JAYA: Several security companies are not taking any chances with rogue guards and are submitting their list of employees to the police and Home Ministry for a second vetting.

Genuine Guard Sdn Bhd marketing officer Abdul Rahim Yahaya said the company was preparing a list, complete with photographs of its 60 guards, for screening.

“We only hire local guards and they are trained by the ministry,” he said.

He added that even though the ministry allowed the hiring of Nepali guards, the company had opted not to do so as most of them did not hold proper permits.

“There are some who held permits to work in factories but they have run away. We don’t want to take the risk,” he said.

He added that if an applicant claimed to be a Sabahan, the company would check his identity with the National Registration Department.

“Another way is to make them sing the Negaraku. If they can’t sing it, they can’t be Malaysian.”

Chico Force Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Juniur Khoo (pic) said that all 500 guards on the firm’s payroll would go through a second vetting.

“I believe we practise the proper vetting and training of our guards. This is merely a precautionary measure to assure our clients that our guards are trustworthy,” he said.

The industry has been in the spotlight following three cases where security guards turned criminals and robbed the places they were supposed to be guarding.

On Oct 23, an AmBank security guard shot dead bank officer Norazita Abu Talib and fled with RM450,000.

Eight days later, a Filipino guard threatened staff of a jewellery store in a Setapak shopping mall and walked away with a tray of gold necklaces.

On Nov 1, Subang police arrested two Nepali security guards and their supervisor for robbing RM200,000 worth of electronic devices from a phone shop in a shopping mall in Sunway.