BRAVO to the National Registration Department (JPN) which has taken on TikTok platform to communicate and educate the public. By doing a search under “Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara” and clicking on the button “Following”, one can then receive its posts which can be very educational.
One such video is that regarding the need to surrender one’s identity card (IC) to security guards which has long been a major contention between this writer and resident associations as well as building managements that insisted visitors must surrender their ICs at the registration counter.
The latest experience this writer had was about a year ago at Tropicana Corporation Bhd in Kota Damansara whereby the security personnel insisted on keeping the IC.
The insistence turned into a little “ugly” scenario with the writer resorting to lodge a report with JPN for the sake of other visitors. It is hoped that this practice has immediately ceased after the authority “educated” the management on the law.
Criminal offence
What does the law say about this practice of asking for ICs for registration purposes? The National Registration Regulations 1990 makes it very clear that no ordinary person – whether management of a private building nor its security guard – can demand for IC except officers from JPN, police officers, custom officers, members of the Armed Forces (on sentry or prowler duty) and other officers authorised by the National Registration Director-General.
Remember, if the security guards ask to see the ICs, it is wise not to physically surrender the IC to them. If need be, hold the IC so that they can read and take down the details instead of allowing them to scan or take photographs of the IC.
Once scanned, the ICs can be abused when the images fall into the wrong hands. In most cases, the public only need to provide the driving license. There is no reason for the management to insist on having the IC.
The law is very clear that security guards have no authority to demand visitors to produce or show them their ICs. If caught, this is a criminal offence under Regulation 8A whereby the jail sentence can be up to three years and/or fine is not exceeding RM20,000.
Recalcitrant management and RAs
What if some management and RAs insist that you produce the IC before they allow you into the building or housing estate? A good suggestion is to take down the date, time, name of security or management personnel who insists on seeing the IC.
You will need this information, including the location where the incident happens and where possible, the contact number of the manager in-charge for the officers to contact. All this information needs to be provided to JPN when you lodge a report at http://jpn.spab.gov.my/.
The next thing to do is to contact the person you are visiting. There is no reason why anyone would stop you from entering into the building or housing area if the owners themselves verify your authenticity as their guests.
Finally, it would be good for JPN to provide a Whatsapp number for people to directly send them messages if they encounter an issue. – Jan 26, 2024
