I’VE seen the faces of ugly Malaysians and they are really ugly.

There I was last month under the scorching sun at the main entrance to my residential area, observing the first day implementation of our gated-and-guarded community (GnG).

For the first time, residents and visitors had to display a sticker on their vehicle windscreen to enter USJ 13, Subang Jaya, without registering with the security guards.

Like all new initiatives, the GnG project was facing teething problems. There were more than half a dozen vehicles waiting at the guard post. Some of the drivers were patiently waiting while others were impatient.

Some residents did not have the car stickers to enter. Some were unaware that there was such an initiative. Some residents were lost in their own residential area as some of the roads had been blocked with chains.

Some were angry as they did not support the GnG project. As I was standing next to the security guards, who had orders to take a photograph of their identity cards, I saw their angry faces.

“Why must I give you my identity card!!! I have been living here for more than 20 years!!! This is my house!!!” a man who looked like a retired civil servant shouted at the security guard. “You all are paranoid!!! I don’t support this!”

His face was twitching with anger. I thought that he would have a heart attack any time as I could “see” his blood boiling.

I noted that the man drove a Mercedes-Benz. And I thought the man possessed a beautiful car but ugly manners.

Few minutes later, another ugly neighbour in a Mercedes-Benz angrily scolded the security guard for asking him to register. The man threatened to drive without showing his identity card.

A USJ GnG committee member explained to him that the initiative was for the security of the residents.

“I don’t support it,” he shouted and if looks could kill, the committee member, security guard and I would have been dead.

A woman in a Proton car refused to give her identity card to be scanned by the guard via a security camera.

“You take my car number!!! You take my name!!! You take my address!!! But I will not give you my IC!!! Why must I give you my IC???” she shouted.

“It is for the security of our neighbourhood that we need to register those who enter our area. We don’t know all home owners here so we need to register those who do not have a sticker,” said the committee member.

“I live here!!! I will not give my IC,” she shouted as she drove off. If there were a reverse Mrs Malaysia contest, her angry expression would have won her the title.

I was also told that another angry neighbour threatened to cut the metal chains that were blocking some of the roads in the neighbourhood.

Another neighbour drove straight past the security guards, refusing to register and forcing a security guard on motorcycle to follow him home to check whether he really lived in USJ 13.

From my one hour monitoring the checkpoint, I noted that we are quite 1Malaysia in our ugliness. The ugly drivers represented all the three major races in our country.

The good news is these unneighbourly neighbours are the small, small minority. There were smiling, encouraging faces from neighbours who supported the GnG project.

A kind soul distributed two dozen chilled 100 Plus cans to those manning the security check points. Another generous neighbour made a container of syrup drink for them.

My one-hour experience exposed me to how it felt to be on the other side. In doing their job, the security guards face unnecessary anger and rudeness.

If you are not happy with the initiative, why not politely tell off the GnG committee members? Why the need to run down the security guards with a truckload of angry words? The security guards are just doing their jobs.

I know the answer, as I was that angry Malaysian.

Unless it is built and sold as a gated community, I know that I have the right to enter a neighbourhood which has later decided to become GnG, to use its facilities such as a public playground.

When I see the security check point, I’m thinking: who gave them the authority to stop me from going to a public place? Why must I give them my identity card? Why must I, a Malaysian, listen to a foreign security guard in my own country? Why must I heed the little Napoleons?

I’ve driven past the security guards, refusing to give them my identity card. And this forced them to follow my vehicle as I drove in the GnG community they were guarding.

But that was then. Now that I have “been” in the shoes of the security guards, I understand the ugliness they have to face.

Nowadays, I try to smile, salute or wave at the security guards when they stop my vehicle when I enter my neighbourhood. I want to show my appreciation that they are keeping my home secure.

I also believe the philosophy “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I wouldn’t want angry people shouting at me just because I want to check their identity before they enter my neighbourhood.

I’ve spoken to the foreign security guards. They tell me that they are treated as if they are not human.

They are in Malaysia to earn an honest living. And yet they are screamed at by some ugly Malaysians.

For the fear of losing their job, they accept the ugliness. They bear with it as they just want to save money so that they can have a better life when they return home.

Next time before you enter a GnG, stop the car, look at the rear view mirror and tell me what you see – a beautiful or ugly face?

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by PHILIP GOLINGAI

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