While Hollywood likes to portray them as debonair men in flashy cars, secret intelligence officers, or spies, as they are widely called, are more likely than not unsuspecting folk you pass by every day.

One with four decades of experience in this field tells his story, but under the cloak of secrecy.

"I was a secret intelligence officer for 40 years.

"When I first joined, I was from an army school, and they put me into the intelligence unit because they saw my thinking and analysing skills.

"I've been close to all the world leaders, and in London I was working as a car wash man, as a cover for being an intelligence officer. Whenever there were Malaysians hurt or involved, student riots or civil war, we would be there.

"I've been around the world, but Russia was tough.

"The scariest country I had gone to was Namibia in 1979, during the Namibian War for Independence from 1966 to 1990.

"During that time we were looking to recruit informers. I was afraid during that time because, despite Namibia being a less-developed country and having very helpful people, almost everyone had guns and weapons. It was dangerous.

"Most people think that being a spy is like being James Bond. We are nothing like him - he had expensive watches, attracted attention and revealed his name everywhere he went. But we did have a watch that had special recording equipment built inside of it.

"If you want to be a secret intelligence officer, the first thing you need is patience.

"Secondly, you need to blend in, not stand out and look stupid so that people will not suspect you, like when I was a car wash man in London.

"Number three, 'biar pecah di perut, jangan pecah di mulut' (keep secrets to yourself). In this case, you must not reveal the secrets of the Malaysian government."

This story was first published on the HUMANS OF KUALA LUMPUR Facebook page. In this photography project, Mushamir Mustafa takes pictures of random people in Kuala Lumpur, who share with him a story from their lives. It features on Malaysiakini every weekend.