COMMENT Guidelines have been prepared for the security guard system, but no one is following them.

Often controlled by people with little knowledge about traffic management and regulations, some of these systems implemented by residents themselves not only flout the laws but pose a real public nuisance.

Even residents find themselves having to fork out money just to hire security guards who function as nothing more than gate-keepers.

The rules implemented in one residential area are different from another.

Bandar Sri Damansara’s Ara sector

I was literally put off when I visited my friend at the Ara residential sector in the larger Bandar Sri Damansara.

Her house is just a stone’s throw away from the security guard post and the local security guard could see her walking out of her house.

While I waited at the entrance, she persuaded the guard to let me through. It was implemented with a smart card, which allows residents to enter if they have one.

Naturally, residents are forced to pay for the security cards, when access to a non-gated community should be free.

As far as I know, there are even cheaper systems, where a sticker costs RM1 each and these stickers can be pasted somewhere in the car. Via the radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, the boom gate will open when the car approaches within a few metres.

Although my friend pays the security guard fees every month, her appeal was ignored by the guard. What is worse is that we were directed to another security post nearby.

When we drove there, we were again denied entry. Finally, my friend realised that she could use her own smart card - and we finally entered into the housing estate.

What makes me very disappointed with the way how the system has been implemented, and when I tried to call the person in charge of security of the area, he did not even bother to pick up the call or return the call.

This is not even a gated community and with only 60 percent of the people paying the security fees, their self-appointed committee has already implemented the smart card system and imposed their own rules and regulations on other residents.

What baffles me the most is that even with a security guard within a stone’s throw away, two homes have been burgled. The only excuse I was given is that the owners of these two homes do not pay security fees!

A senior official at the Selangor state secretariat told me that at every boom gate, a security guard has to be posted. But I told him that in Taman SEA, the boom gate is locked during the day and there was no security guard to open the boom gate. Because of that, I had to use the main road and make a U-turn just to enter the housing area.

In another area, there are two layers of security. It is a case where there is a different residential area within another; therefore, one has to sign in at one security guard post, then sign in again at the next one.

What is worse is when security guards ask for identity cards (which we should never surrender to anyone other than an authorised person) or ask for the address of the family that you are visiting.

In one housing estate in Kepong, the entire area is divided into zones. When you are allowed into Zone A, you cannot enter into another zone.

There are so many more ridiculous rules that are implemented in the name of security. In the case of my area, the security guard system was started as early as the late 90s.

I have seen enough of the nonsense to the point that even the police have to be called in on several occasions. I never believe in paying a single sen because I see how the various committees fail to account for the money.

Even with security services, burglary still happens. On one occasion I was told that the security guards came, but the robbers had a gun.

What’s more interesting was when I tagged along in a local council vehicle to check out some rubbish dumps in my area, and the vehicle was not allowed to enter, until the guard was warned that the vehicle we were in belongs to the local authority.

On another occasion, a group of residents with sticks (and I was one of them) were chasing a snatch thief, but the security guard was merely standing there to open the boom gate for cars. He did not even help to catch the criminal.

Instead of paying for security fees, I think we should all install alarms, closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and maybe purchase household insurance. With or without the guards, it makes no difference.

Guidelines

Where are the guidelines? Why are they not implemented according to the standard guidelines? Why are the local authorities not regulating these security systems?

In the case of Ara residential zone in Bandar Sri Damansara, I will see whether the Petaling Jaya City Council will step in to stop the nonsense. I also urge other local authorities to regulate the security system in other areas.

It is sad that Malaysians have phobias about security that we have become vulnerable to some people who know how to exploit our willingness to pay security fees.

There are of course some places where the security is managed properly by companies having proper accounts and where their supervisors are professionally trained.

But the number of security committees that have mushroomed in the past 10 years is enough to warrant more stringent regulatory control.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.