ANYBODY who takes a leisurely drive in the towns of Nilai, Rasah, Seremban or any other town in Negri Sembilan will surely marvel at the rapid development these once sleepy enclaves have gone through.
Set to be beneficiaries of the soonto-be launched Malaysian Vision Valley, these towns, as well as others, have grown by leaps and bounds to become dynamic commercial areas alongside Seremban, which is set to complement Kuala Lumpur as part of Greater Kuala Lumpur.
However, on the fringes of these towns, one is likely to come across rows of shophouses which appear to be doing brisk businesses at the front, but take a spin to the back, and shadier parts will be revealed.
Inconspicuous and unassuming at first, these shoplots appear unoccupied, with shutters drawn down or adorned with tinted glass. A closer inspection will reveal that these unobtrusive establishments are actually illegal cyber gambling dens which continue to sprout under the noses of the authorities.
Despite raids by the police and local councils, as well as power and water cuts, these cyber cafes continue to thrive, operating elsewhere if snuffed out by enforcement officers.
Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said recently that Malaysia must quickly formulate and enact a law to combat illegal cyber gambling to give authorities more bite to bury the activity, which is fast-proving to be a scourge.
“Two years have passed since state leaders and the Federal Government sat down together to formulate the new act but to date, it has yet to materialise,” Mohamad had said.
“All states in the country must have this new act, and empower one agency to eradicate illegal gambling dens, because at the moment, efforts to eradicate them involve many different agencies, such as the police, local councils and the attorney-general.
“The new illegal cyber gambling act has to be sped up to give the authorities more teeth to fight illegal cyber gambling as it destroys families and the fabric of society. Local councils should play the lead role.”
To date, Malaysia has no specific act to haul up illegal cyber gambling operators. As for the state, Mohamad said, with the police and local councils, it will go all out to bust gambling dens, whether by cutting water and electricity supply, freezing the licences of premise owners dragging operators to court.
“We will never give up and will continue to monitor these operators. Muslim gamblers will be convicted in the syariah court and non-Muslims in civil court. I want the people to know that we are doing our level best and please, don’t say we are not doing anything because we are working very hard,” Mohamad had said.
It is hard to nab operators as they have links to international gambling syndicates overseas and it is hard to prove this in court as illegal gamblers delete the communications trail on their phones, tablets and computers.
To give a rough idea of the uphill battle the state faces, last year, Negri Sembilan held 45,947 raids, of which 373 were successful, with 2,222 computers confiscated, 552 organisers and 650 gamblers detained.
It is an insurmountable task as the cyber cafes have lookouts who are handsomely paid. Even if their premises are raided and confiscated, cyber barons have the purchasing power to start all over again at a new location far away from prying eyes.
The authorities, however, must persevere as illegal gambling activities destroy families, is a bane of society and should not be left to flourish unabated.
The people and communities must also play their role by becoming the eyes and ears of the authorities and must not hesitate to report any suspicious illegal gambling activities near their housing areas.
As for other state leaders and the Federal Government, hasten the formulation of this new cyber act so that lawmakers in Parliament can take a look, table, motion and eventually pass and enact the law to protect the people from this menace.
Zaidi Isham Ismail, a former assistant news editor at BT, is NST’s Negri Sembilan bureau chief