The tourists’ bad experiences at immigration checkpoints will kill their enthusiasm for a comeback visit in future.

The move by tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing rescuing a detained Chinese national at KLIA has sent ripples across the Malaysian society, with no end in sight for the whole thing in near future.

As a cabinet minister, Tiong’s move to make a personal trip to the airport to “rescue” a tourist is indeed drawing a lot of attention.

What is more shocking is the revelation of corrupt practices among immigration officers at the airport.

According to the minister, the female Chinese national was locked inside a “dark room” by an immigration officer due to miscommunication during immigration clearance at the airport.

He claimed that the woman was also told by the officer to pay a RM18,000 “package” of unknown purposes in order to secure her release.

The minister’s bold action has won the applause from many in the travel industry.

MATA (Malaysia Agency Tourism Association) and MiTDA (Malaysia International Tourism Development Association) have thanked the minister for the intervention seen as a positive move to preserve the country’s international reputation, while MyBHA (Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association) national president Ganesh Michiel also gave minister Tiong a big thumbs-up, saying any problem that will impede the country’s tourist development must be handled appropriately.

On the flip side, other than commendations from industry players, Tiong’s move has also invited hostile criticisms, including from Umno Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh who dismissed the minister’s action as unacceptable and that he should be sacked from the cabinet.

Malaysia Corruption Watch (MCW), meanwhile, feels that any individual, in particular a minister, should refrain from acting on his own to avoid backlash and possible outcry that could jeopardize the country’s image and reputation.

Anyway, the minister should be praised for revealing the unknown dark side of the civil service, but why should anyone target the wrath at the whistleblower instead of the perpetrators in corruption?

Bear in mind that it would be tremendously serious and should command national attention, if the alleged corrupt practices do exist in the immigration department.

We should not allow anyone to divert our attention from the seriousness of the issue with criticisms against the minister.

Is the case highlighted by Tiong the only one that we have? Or is it just a tip of the iceberg?

According to Tiong, he had in the past observed several cases of alleged bribe-taking at KLIA, but after he brought up the issue with the immigration department, his complaints were largely ignored.

He also urged home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to eradicate the long-established culture of corruption at KLIA immigration.

In the meantime, a senior local lawyer voiced in support of the minister as she had personally handled a case involving a Chinese tourist having the same predicament.

As a matter of fact, this is not the first time the immigration department has come under assault for alleged corruption.

In 2010, seven immigration officers were detained under ISA for allegedly colluding with a criminal syndicate in human trafficking activities.

This February, four immigration officers were arrested for alleged collaboration with a human smuggling group.

These incidents prove that indeed there are problems with the immigration department that we simply cannot afford to ignore.

While corruption involving individuals should not be overlooked, what is more worrisome is the highly destructive systemic corruption that has taken root in the Malaysian institution.

As such, once a problem arises, the relevant authorities must take immediate actions to prevent it from growing into a monster too big for us to tackle, instead of squarely denying the existence of the problem.

Now that the minister has exposed the black box operation within the immigration department, the government cannot afford to keep its eyes shut. It must conduct thorough investigation and bring the culprits to book.

At the same time, the government must also enhance the efficiency of immigration services at our airports so that our visitors will not have to queue up too long to get clearance.

As the country is striving to revitalize the tourist industry after the pandemic, the tourists’ bad experiences at immigration checkpoints will kill their enthusiasm for a comeback visit in future.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has promised to thoroughly investigate claims of extortion on Chinese tourists from immigration officers at the airport, and will bring the matter to Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.

In the meantime, the MACC will meet minister Tiong to acquire more information in order to launch an investigation.

It is good that various parties are viewing this issue with some seriousness, and hopefully this will mark the start for improved immigration operation in this country.