By Ahmed Wafi
It’s no longer strange nowadays to see most security guards working in condominiums and shopping complexes in Malaysia hail from Nepal, a country known for Mount Everest. The people of Nepal have become a favourite choice for security providers here mainly due to the good work ethics exhibited by most Nepalese security officers and partly due to the fact that they are easily hired as cheap labour.
I managed to speak to two security guards who are working in an upper middle class condominium somewhere in Kuala Lumpur and their stories are really fascinating and enough to evoke the feelings of sympathy. After my conversations with the two of them, my initial feeling of sympathy was replaced with a sense of respect and admiration for what they do and how they do it.
What prompted this story to be written was a smile or rather a few smiles from them. I was driving into the parking lot when one of the security guards, in his uniform raised his hand and smiled at me. It was by far the most genuine smile I have ever seen. His name is Basanta, a 37-year-old from the Ramechhap district in Nepal. The other security officer I spoke to was a tall sturdy man by the name of Devandra, Basanta’s junior by two years.
Despite the narrow age gap, Basanta looked much older, his face worn out by the hard labour that he has had to endure just to survive. He previously worked as a farmer, growing rice, potatoes and tomatoes among other crops, but he found little success in that life and was forced to abandon it and look for work elsewhere to support his parents and family. At home, he has a six-year-old boy and a wife. His parents are still with him so he does all he can to repay them. After farming, he looked for work in India and became a security guard there for four years before moving to Malaysia.
When I spoke to him, it was his last day on the job as his three-year contract has expired and he would be going back to his family a week after his last day. He works on a 12-hour shift, seven days a week and earns a measly RM 1,550. The life of a security guard is repetitive. When he gets back to his hostel, he takes a shower, washes his clothes and goes to bed. He has no time for any form of leisure whatsoever. From his salary, he pays his employers RM250 a month for a daily provision of breakfast and dinner while he’s on his own for lunch. About RM 900- 1,000 will be sent back home to Nepal and this leaves him with only about RM 300-400 a month. “Is that enough for you?” I asked, “no boss but I cannot do anything about it.”
When asked if he misses his family he said “yes boss, everyday miss”. He calls his sisters and wife everyday and you could see a tinge of sadness in his eyes as he talks about his family.
His command of the language isn’t as admirable as it could be but for a person who barely graduated from school, he can speak four languages quite fluently.
Devandra works overtime once a week. Working overtimes pays RM4 an hour and Devandra works the whole shift which is 12 hours and has to get back on duty after the second shift. This means that once a week he will work 36 hours.
The worst part of the life of these hardworking honest men is not the job itself but it is the people around them who do not appreciate what they are doing just to survive. These men are cursed and scolded for the slightest mistakes. I’ve seen security guards prohibit residents from doing one thing and they’re met with hostility as if these honest men are trying to steal your homes.
What’s funny about this is that the residents will claim to be educated. What a waste of education.
These men are trying their best to get around, they know that the job is tough and the only thing keeping them going is their family back home. Devandra proudly showed me pictures of his wife and children and God knows he misses them more than anything in the world.
These men have nothing to offer but a smile and they offer that smile everyday. Now that Basanta has left for Nepal, driving to the parking lot has not been as enjoyable as it used to be. Who knew that a simple smile from a man could turn your day around?
Smile more. Some people really need the boost.