Malaysia is preparing to allow local security firms to hire security guards from other labour sending countries which could possibly end a decade-old monopoly enjoyed by Nepali migrants in the sector in the South-east Asian country.

 

Senior Malaysian officials have said that they are planning to hire security guards from source countries like Sri Lanka due to limited supply of trained security guards from Nepal. “We may have to look at other source countries that have a good supply of security guards with military background, such as Sri Lanka,” Malaysian media quoted Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed as saying. He said that the job had been previously reserved only for Nepalis owing to their reputations as Gurkha soldiers. Malaysia has been recruiting security guards only from Nepal since 2006. Around 24,000 Nepalis are currently working as security guards in Malaysia, according to Malaysian Home Ministry.

 

Due to short supply of Nepali security guards, Malaysian employers are employing undocumented workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Malaysia has begun nationwide campaigns to flush out undocumented workers in order to regulate the industry.

 

Despite a huge demand for trained security guards in Malaysia, a few aspirant workers are actually willing to take the job. Recruiting agencies in Nepal said that several factors, including higher recruitment cost, costly pre departure training class and weak ringgit, are discouraging potential security guards in Malaysia. On top of recruitment charge of Rs120,000, Malaysia has made it binding for aspirant security guards to take up a training course from its authorised agent paying Rs 20,000 to go to Malaysia.

 

In an interview with the Post last year, Sukumaran NK Nair, manager of Malaysia-based KAMI Security Service, one of the 784 security agencies authorised to recruit workers from Nepal, said that Nepali security guards draw a minimum of 1,800 ringgits.

 

Malaysia hires around 60,000 security guards each year, while Nepal has been barely meeting 5 to 10 percent of the total demand. Stakeholders in Nepal said fewer Nepalis with experience of working in Indian and Nepal Army are going to Malaysia due to more lucrative offers from countries like Macau, Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Brunei and Qatar.