• Illegal, but a source of cheap labour
• A mystery to residents too
• From communist haven to nursery centre
Drugs, vice and illegals flood Sungai Buloh
THOUSANDS of illegal immigrants have virtually taken over Sungai Buloh New Village, doing whatever they please, even illicitly, right under the noses of police manning a station there.
Malay Mail, following up on complaints from residents, learnt that there are an estimated 50,000 foreigners there, three-quarters believed to be illegal.
Our checks also revealed that these illegal immigrants are allegedly involved in vice, drugs and other unlawful activities, catering to their countrymen as well as locals.
These activities have reportedly driven some local residents, fearing for their safety, out of the township.
There is an office of a vigilante corps, known as Perkhidmatan Tindakan Cemas Malaysia (Emergency Action Forces of Malaysia) at the top floor of a shophouse but their activities are a mystery even to the locals (see accompanying story).
Residents told Malay Mail reporters who visited the area several times in the past month that many of the foreigners have been there for several years, even though there is a police station in front of a row of shophouses near the entrance to the township.
"The police could have just checked the workers hanging out at the restaurants or those living in the apartments above the shophouses... and they would have made a bountiful catch of illegals," said a resident. "But they do not do it." The increasing presence of prostitutes, mostly Vietnamese and Myanmar who charge between RM20 to RM50, is also worrying local residents.
These girls operate from several shophouses under the pretext of providing massage services. Locals who converge on the township on weekends are also taking to them in droves.
Malay Mail approached several foreign workers there on the pretext of looking for cheap labour and their responses revealed the story.
They spoke readily, as a higher salary would help them leave their workplaces, where wages are pittance and the employers, being aware of their illegal status, hold them to ransom.
Many openly declared that they had either overstayed or have never had any documents to stay or work in the country.
The way they brazenly challenge the law has caused concern among the locals. With Bangladeshis, Vietnamese and Nepalese walking about freely in the township, it is no wonder that a local would feel intimidated when almost everyone, even the petty traders, are foreigners.
They even organise their own pasar malam on Sunday evenings to cater to the growing population. Thousands would converge at the pasar malam where only a handful of the traders are locals.
Some foreign traders even use small canopies with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall logo on them.
It is learnt that thousands work in factories and live in apartments above the shops. Many are slowly moving into houses in the area.
It is not difficult to spot a house packed with illegal immigrants.
Bicycles are a tell-tale sign; they use them to travel to their workplace.
Another giveaway is the empty Chinese altars at the front of the houses.
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Illegal, but a source of cheap labour
THEY come from countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar, not looking for a better life but for better wages, a steady income even, so that they can improve the lot of their families back home.
However, many of them ended up being cheated by the manpower agents that paved the way for their journey to Malaysia. So where do the hundreds, possibly even thousands, of such workers go? They go anywhere, and take up any kind of job, for cheap, so that they can return the money they borrowed - or hocked property - to get to Malaysia.
And many end up in Sungai Buloh New Village.
Some of the foreign workers in the township who spoke to the Malay Mail probe team said though many of the workers there did not have valid documents, they were ready to move to any place where they could get better wages.
"We are zero. We are prepared to move anywhere. As long as you can promise us a steady wage and not take advantage of us," one of the foreigners hanging around outside his working quarters told us.
This was a shoplot, located about 100m from the township's police station.
The migrant worker, a Nepalese, said he and a group of his countrymen came into the country legally and were lawfully employed.
However, one day six months ago their employer ordered them to follow another employer. They took the chance, and have been living as illegal workers in the township since then.
The wages they are paid, he said, are far below what they were propmised before they left Nepal.
"How many workers do you want? I can bring them to you for a fee," he volunteered.
The Malay Mail team was taken for a drive in the area again on a weekend and were shown where the foreigners were staying, and the various shops they were operating.
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A mystery to residents too
IT apparently is a Sungai Buloh New Village mystery. No one that the Malay Mail Probe team spoke to could shed any light on Kor Vigilante & Penguatkuasaan Kawasan Sungai Buloh.
Located on the first floor of a shophouse in the village, the corps is also known as Perkhidmatan Tindakan Cemas Malaysia (Emergency Action Forces of Malaysia).
We stumbled onto the outfit when we were checking out stories about illegal immigrant workers in the village.
We decided to check it out since we had not heard of such a force.
We visited the office several times over a one-month period but the office was locked during the different times of the weekdays and weekends that we went there.
Traders in the area said they too had wondered about it as they had not seen anyone entering or leaving the office.
One of them laughed when told we wanted to join the outfit.
"That would be a waste of time.
If you have any problem in your neighbourhood, call the police," he said when given a concocted tale that a residents' association wanted the corps' help to weed out criminal activities in its neighbourhood.
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From communist haven to nursery centre
FROM a black area to a haven for nature lovers. That's how Sungai Buloh has transformed.
Communist activities were so rampant during the Japanese Occupation that Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh was formed to curb the elements. After starting with vegetable and fruit cultivation, and pig farming, it experienced another transformation by becoming a haven for small and medium-sized industries.
But an accident which shook the nation in the early 90s placed the village into disarray. Bright Sparklers, a factory which produced fireworks, exploded, killing more than 100 workers.
And of course, the National Leprosy Centre, set up in the 40s and officially closed down several years ago, formed a stigma for Sungai Buloh as a place to stay away from. That was until the late 70s and early 80s when developers started building houses in the area.
It has also become a centre for nurseries. The nurseries have attracted not only city dwellers but also those from other States.
Foreigners also gravitate to the area because of job opportunities.
That has created a social problem.
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