Fed up with bogus international students
I REFER to the letter “No age limit to tertiary education” (The Star, Aug 18). I believe the writer has misunderstood the noble and sincere intent of the writer of the letter “Authorities doing right thing in withholding licence” (The Star, Aug 16).
Language must always be viewed in context and we must not take one phrase out and make presumptions or generalise matters. What were the issues highlighted by the writer of “Authorities doing right thing in withholding licence”?
The reality is the vast majority of foreign students who come to our country abuse their student visa and engage in immoral and illegal activities.
They disappear after one or two weeks at the college and do not attend any lectures after successfully obtaining their student visa. A few do attend lectures but only once a week or once a month.
The vast majority sign the daily lecture attendance records for months in advance to hoodwink the authorities when they come to do their spot checks.
I have just retired from an enforcement agency where I worked for more than 25 years and this is the gospel truth.
Malaysians are fed up with and sick of fake foreign students who are only here to work, and in immoral and illegal trades at that.
Mind you, our current immigration regulations, laws and statutes do not allow holders of the student visa to work in any trade, be it parttime or full-time.
Let us not compare ourselves with Australia, the United States or Britain. Being a sovereign nation, we have our own regulations, laws and restrictions based on our own demographics.
Yes, there are students who are 60 or 70 or 84 years old but they are genuine. They will not go moonlighting and would not be involved in immoral and illegal trades like prostitution and peddling drugs.
We are talking about teenagers and middle-aged people who come here to do their illegal business in the guise of international students. That is what we are fed up with and complaining about, nothing else.
We can welcome millions of international students but we must make sure they are genuine. We must make sure they do not abuse our system and end up being a nuisance to our beloved nation just like the millions of illegal workers in our midst now. Will we ever learn?
According to reports in the media, a number of young Malaysian girls became drug mules after being conned by bogus international students. These girls are now serving their time in prisons abroad. Do we not care for our sisters and daughters?
If you visit pubs and other entertainment places in our major cities, you will see foreign students working there. As citizens of the new Malaysia, shouldn’t we be concerned over this?
The media should do an expose on these international students and interview enforcement agencies like the Immigration Department, police and the National-Anti Drug Agency so that Malaysians on the whole will be aware of the grave damage that these fake and bogus international students are inflicting on our nation.
RETIRED ENFORCEMENT OFFICER Cheras