Story & Photo by John Shebat de Silva
S. Khan is a 30 year-old Pakistani security guard for a flat in Subang Jaya. He is one of the many immigrants who have traveled to Malaysia in search of better ‘opportunities’. His objectives are simple; to work as hard as possible, and to send most of the earnings to his family back home.
With the belief that Malaysia is a promising land which offers an abundance of not only jobs, but a warm community to work in as well, Khan leaves behind his wife and four children. But he has come to realise that that belief could very well have been a myth.
In his three years in Malaysia so far, Khan has found himself constantly harassed by the local police. He admits to being guilty of bribing the officers in the hopes of not getting a summon. To his dismay however, he recieves both an offer to bribe and a summon. Him being ‘just another lowly immigrant worker’ leaves him in a no-win situation. This leaves Khan with barely half his monthly take-home salary.
It was not just the authorities who were constantly on Khan’s case. He added that the nature of his job exposes him to the dangers of confronting ill-natured locals, not to mention the neighbourhood hooligan. Khan joked, “what you call Mat Rempits are aplenty here”. Derogatory and vulgar names are often thrown at him and his fellow guards. “They always tell me to mind my own business and to go back to where I came from”, said Khan.
One would expect that these experiences are an immigrant worker’s worst nightmare. But the security guard begged to differ. “Every country has corrupt officials and rascals. It’s no different in Pakistan”, exclaimed Khan. What he found more dissapointing was how many Malaysians lacked work ethics. “The current generation of locals here don’t know how blessed are they. They take so much for granted”, he said.
Conveniently at this point, a young local new recruit reported for duty. His uniform was untucked and had curry stains, his shoes unpolished, his hair a mess, and he had a lit cigarette in his hand. Khan wasted no time in using the new guard to prove his point that many young Malaysians do not take things seriously and wants everything done for them.
Khan was not just another ‘old man’ from what many locals assume to be an under-developed nation. It was in fact quite the contrary. Considered to be a newer generation of Pakistani men (Khan explains that married men of generations before his are expected to have at least twice the number of children he has), his knowledge extends very well beyond the scandals of Pakistani leaders to Tun Mahathir’s legacy and the foreign policies of the United States.
He believes that it is the fault of Western and conventional media that has demonized Pakistan’s reputation. “Maybe everyone is scared of us just because we (Pakistan) have some nuclear power too”, he joked.
Khan is just another undervalued immigrant who want nothing more but to work and send money home. Perhaps even return to see his family during the festive season when he is able to save up enough cash. Before parting, he wished me well and hoped that the younger generation of Malaysians would wake up from their current state of complacency.
***The above article was not intended to be sympathetic nor against any parties in particular. The writer’s ambition was simply to highlight a simple foreigner’s view of contemporary Malaysia and with hopes of helping fellow Malaysians be a more positive force in today’s society.***
John de Silva's a bored university student by day, a baristo by night, and an aspiring writer round-the-clock
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