Immigration Officers: The unsung heroes

I feel obliged to blog about this special group of people, the first group of people or the front liners that face the incoming visitors, and the last to say goodbye when these people leave, thus they are quite vital, all their activities are indeed scrutinized and much talked about.Not many are aware that the Immigration Department is one of the few uniformed department that is not fully closed department unlike their counterparts in  Royal Customs or the Prisons Department. In the closed department system, the Director General and his officers come thru rank and and file, whilst in Immigration, the uniformed officers are only able to reach a certain stage or position, all the positions above that are all filled up by PTD officers, who come and go....hopping from one Government department to another, and the sad part is, these PTD officers hold positions superior than the uniformed Immigration Officers who serve as subordinates to them.

Immigration officers, who are normally caught in difficult situations upholding the interest of several ministries. Although the are placed directly under the Home Ministry, some how they also have to uphold and strive to achieve the objectives of other ministries such as the Human Resource Ministry and Tourism Ministry. While their primary objective is answering to the Home Ministry, to safeguard the nation's interest, and to vet the people who come into Malaysia, sometimes they are blamed by the Tourism ministry for being too strict and chasing away the tourist. When they loosen up in the name of attracting visitors, they run foul of the public, who claims that they are too generous in letting in unwanted visitors, which worsen social problems.

Foreign labor is another big headache, stringent regulations will make the employers unhappy, clamoring for politicians help in obtaining approval, on the other hand influx of these labors will earn the wrath of locals. It is a pitiful situation...it is like head they lose, tail they lose.Though the services provided by the Immigration Department have improved by leaps and bounds,(eg; you could get your passport within an hour), it is still the negative news by a small group of bad hats that kept being highlighted. The ironic part is while the department is being hounded and pounded, people who had served as the Director General of Immigration have gone on to other successful  senior posts (to name a few...Mahmood Adam, Aseh Che Mat, Syed Danial). My sincere wish is for the Immigration Officers to receive their due appreciation....ciao....a.h.baharom