Corruption At the Malaysian Immigration Department

This post and the comments below are dedicated to the extent of corruption by Malaysian Immigration Officers. The gist of this post and comments are not to humiliate the Malaysian Immigration Department. The purpose of this post is to collect all the articles available on the corruptions and syndicates managing to corrupt government immigration officers on corruption. All those who love to travel and have any say about corruption in Malaysia is very welcome to say something in the comments column. Your views will not be judged but as the administrator of this blog, I will monitor your opinions. Please, this blog does not accept hedonistic, racialistic, and religious discriminatory comments. Any comments not related and offensive will be deleted, and you will not be entertained. 

'Bad apples' in enforcement agencies need to be thrown away

Published on 10 Dec 2020

A spate of crimes involving enforcement officers has prompted several public figures to urge enforcement agencies to improve their training to prevent the increase in the number of "bad apples". The latest probe was on two 30-something policemen, each carrying the rank of lance corporal and constable, who were said to have forced a couple to have sex while they recorded their act on their mobile phones on Dec 4. In October, the MACC arrested four senior police officers who were among 10 individuals for their involvement with a Macau syndicate, widely reported by the media. Following that, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador, who repeatedly warned his officers against abuse of power, announced the formation of a special committee to screen police personnel qualified to work in certain departments. Police divisions such as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Narcotics CID, and D7, which deals with vice, gambling and secret societies, were undergoing major revamps. Last month, the MACC nabbed 28 immigration officers in cahoots with the "stamping facility" syndicates at KLIA. A low-rank officer was found to have luxury vehicles such as Phantom Rolls Royce, Mustang and Audi. These were among the recent cases reported by the media. Several public figures interviewed by Malaysiakini shared their thoughts on crimes involving enforcement officers.

Former IGP Musa Hassan

When police officers commit crimes, it shows that their discipline level had declined, and they have no respect for the law. If no standard operating procedure (SOP) was followed, there would bound to be corruption and abuse of power. In general, seven actions should be taken:

a) Stern action against officers and personnel for breaking the discipline, disregarding the Inspector-General of Police's Standing Order (PTKPN), and involving with corruption.

b) Stern action against supervisors or heads for failing to monitor and check their men and failing to take action against them for breaching the SOP.

c) Integrity and Standard Compliance Department and the MACC have to work together to monitor (possible wrongdoings).

d) Training during the service must be frequent for the officers and personnel to sharpen their skills, be aware of the standing orders and the SOP.

e) New recruits must be firmly instilled with disciplines to ensure that they respect the law and SOP.

f) Those who found to have a discipline problem need to undergo intensive retraining.

Alliance For Safety Community chairperson Lee Lam Thye

It is time for all law agencies to find effective ways to enhance integrity. It's something that cannot be compromised. Integrity covers the whole subject of work ethics. Every government department has its own integrity committee, but the question is, are they effective? Why, despite having the integrity committee in each department, we still see a lack of integrity among officers? The government must thoroughly review the integrity committees. Without integrity, there are bound to be problems such as corruption and abuse of power.

Crime analyst Kamal Affendi

If the public is worried about wrongdoing involving enforcement officers, they should also feel relief as the suspects have been arrested. It's the government's policy not to cover-up the abuse of power, and the enforcement agencies don't cover up their investigations. Hence, we can read reports about "bad apples". When some people start their jobs, they only have the knowledge of the system, but as they work their way up, this is where they know the weakness of the system and exploit it. When there is an opportunity in front of their eyes, surely it would become a motivation and desire to commit the crime. An immediate post-mortem must be conducted at all levels to identify the weak spots. We must not be satisfied when the suspects are punished. During the court case, we would be able to indicate the "weak spots". Then, we must seek to fix the weaknesses and close the exploited areas.  Kuala Lumpur Crime Prevention Practitioner Association exco Saiful Hamiruzzaman Mohd Hazir. Starting from now, the enrolment to join enforcement agencies must consider the mental health aspect of applicants. For so long, the agencies were focusing on the physical attributes of applicants. Weak mental strength will only lead to poor integrity, which opens up to the abuse of power. Secondly, victims and the public must know their rights when approached by enforcement officers and what they should do.

KLCPPA exco Bok Siew Mun

The police should implement the usage of body camera on their personnel while on duty. The applicants should undergo a thorough background check before joining the force and periodic checks thereafter. However, the public should know that only small police numbers are being investigated, not the whole police force. The police, on the whole, have done a lot to ensure our safety. Hence, we should not let a few rotten eggs tarnish the whole enforcement. On the other hand, severe actions should be taken if they are proven guilty. Crime analyst Shahul Hamid Abdul Rahim. The respective agencies have to review their work SOP to ensure that it's still relevant, and job rotation among officers and personnel must be regularly made. The standard of training and courses have declined. Many departments conduct training just for the sake of it. There's no proper training to encourage the participants to work with integrity and as a team. As for the enrolment of new recruits, every government agency has to review their modules. Perhaps, there are modules which do not achieve the desired standard.

- Mkini

- https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/554591

🇰🇷🇨🇳🇰🇭 Misplaced Blame and Missed Accountability: Southeast Asia Is Not a Monolith

Recent headlines have spotlighted the tragic death of a South Korean student in Cambodia, allegedly tortured in a scam compound near Bokor Mountain. The incident, alongside the repatriation of dozens of South Koreans detained or exploited in Cambodian scam centres, has understandably triggered alarm in Seoul. President Lee Jae Myung has called for a tougher crackdown on transnational scams targeting Korean nationals, and South Korea has even sought UN cooperation to address the growing threat of human trafficking linked to online fraud.

But the narrative now circulating—that Southeast Asia is broadly unsafe for South Koreans—is dangerously reductive.

🔍 Southeast Asia ≠ Cambodia Alone

Southeast Asia comprises eleven nations, each with distinct governance, security frameworks, and bilateral ties with Korea. To conflate the entire region with Cambodia’s criminal underbelly is to ignore the diversity and complexity of ASEAN. Many South Koreans in the region are not tourists but workers, students, and entrepreneurs seeking opportunity—not leisure.

🧭 The China Factor: Transnational Crime Needs Transnational Accountability

What’s missing from the conversation is the role of Chinese criminal syndicates operating across Southeast Asia. Scam compounds in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos have repeatedly been linked to Chinese nationals and networks. Beijing must take proactive responsibility—not just reactive diplomacy—before tragedies escalate further.

Let us not forget the 2011 Mekong River massacre, where 13 Chinese sailors were murdered by drug traffickers operating in Myanmar. That incident, underpinned by Chinese cartel influence, prompted a rare military response from China. But why wait for another bloodbath?

🛡️ Call to Action

China should lead regional efforts to dismantle scam networks seeded by its own citizens. South Korea must continue to differentiate between rogue zones and legitimate partners in Southeast Asia. And media outlets must resist the temptation to paint the region with a single, fearful brush.

Southeast Asia deserves nuanced engagement—not blanket avoidance.

Malaysia approves 50km border wall facing Narathiwat

B11.5bn equivalent budget approved for wall's construction

A border wall separates Thailand's Betong district in Yala and Malaysia's Perak state. A similar barrier will soon be built between Narathiwat and Kelantan state. (Photo: 4th Army Region)

The Malaysian government has approved the construction of a wall in Kelantan state along the border with Thailand fronting Narathiwat, and allocated a budget 1.5 billion ringgit (11.5 billion baht) for its implementation. 

Kelantan state police chief Mohd Yusoff Manat announced the decision and budget allocation on Tuesday, the New Straits Times reported.

"The allocation has been approved for the construction of the wall, and the chief secretary to the government, Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar, has conducted a site visit to the border," he said in the report. 

The decision is a major victory for the Malaysian state, which has long sought the construction of a barrier along the border with Thailand's Narathiwat province, as the two countries battle against smuggling and other cross-border crime.

Malaysia has previously built crime-stopper walls along some sectors of the border with southern Thailand. This will be the first in Kelantan. It is also intended to prevent flooding from the Golok River, which separates the two countries in that sector.

The state police chief said the first section of wall in Kelantan would be built between Tumpat and Tenah Merah, Bernama news agency reported. The project was now in the tendering process, he said. It would be about 50 kilometres long.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/3124268/malaysia-approves-50km-border-wall-facing-narathiwat.

Malaysia’s Position on Article 5.1: Strategic Autonomy Over Uncritical Alignment

Article 5.1 No way! 

Article 5.1 may assert that Malaysia is obliged to replicate any trade restrictions—tariffs, quotas, or prohibitions—imposed by the United States under the guise of economic or national security. But let us be unequivocal: Malaysia is not a subordinate actor. We are a sovereign trading nation with our own strategic calculus, regional partnerships, and economic imperatives.

China and Russia are not adversaries—they are integral partners. Malaysian consumer markets are deeply embedded within Chinese supply chains, particularly in foodstuffs, household goods, and electronics. To mirror U.S. trade measures wholesale would be economically unsound and politically destabilising. The PH+BN coalition is acutely aware of this. Enforcing Article 5.1 without nuance risks fracturing domestic coalitions and alienating key minority communities whose consumption patterns are closely tied to imports from Hong Kong and mainland China.

Furthermore, Malaysia is actively deepening its engagement with BRICS nations. YAB DSAI’s invitation to the Presidents of Brazil and South Africa for bilateral trade summits is not symbolic—it is strategic. We are broadening our trade architecture, not constricting it. To jeopardise these relationships in pursuit of rigid alignment with U.S. protectionism would be a grave miscalculation.

Malaysia must interpret Article 5.1 through a lens of pragmatism and national interest. We cannot, and will not, abide blindly by language that undermines our regional stability or economic growth. Our trajectory demands diversified partnerships—across agriculture, textiles, engineering, and beyond. Compliance must be conditional, measured, and always aligned with Malaysia’s sovereign priorities.

Time Is Running Out: Why M. Indira Gandhi Must Act Swiftly to Locate Her Daughter

By Determined Sarawakian 

Seventeen years have elapsed since Prasana Diksa was taken from her mother, M. Indira Gandhi, at merely eleven months of age. Despite a landmark ruling by Malaysia’s Federal Court in 2018—which declared the child’s unilateral conversion to Islam invalid and reaffirmed Indira’s full custodial rights—Prasana remains missing. The father, who absconded with her in defiance of court orders, has yet to be located or held accountable. Law enforcement has failed to execute the arrest warrant. The state has failed to reunite a mother with her child.

But time is no longer a luxury Indira can afford.

⏳ The Legal Clock Is Ticking

In fewer than four years, Prasana will reach the age of 21—the age of majority under Malaysian law. At that point, she will possess full legal autonomy to determine her religion, residence, and familial affiliations. Should she emerge publicly and declare herself a Muslim, or worse, renounce her mother’s custodial claim, the legal and emotional stakes of this case will shift dramatically.

The Federal Court’s ruling will remain a powerful precedent, but its practical effect may be rendered moot. Custody orders do not apply to adults. And while the court invalidated her childhood conversion, an adult Prasana could voluntarily reaffirm her Muslim identity, placing herself under Syariah jurisdiction and beyond the reach of civil enforcement.

🔍 The Case for Private Investigation

Given the state’s prolonged inaction, it is imperative that Indira Gandhi consider engaging private investigators—without delay. This is not a matter of undermining the judiciary, but a recognition that enforcement mechanisms have failed. The police have had over a decade to act. They have not.

Private investigators, operating within legal bounds, may offer a parallel path to locating Prasana. Surveillance, digital tracing, and community-level intelligence gathering could yield leads that official channels have either overlooked or deprioritised. Time-sensitive action now could make the difference between reunion and irreversible separation.

🧭 A Strategic Imperative

This is not merely a personal tragedy—it is a national test of constitutional integrity. The longer Prasana remains missing, the more the state’s failure becomes normalised. If she reappears as an adult and publicly disavows her mother, it will be framed as her choice. But that “choice” will have been shaped by years of unilateral upbringing, religious indoctrination, and state-sanctioned parental alienation.

To prevent that outcome, Indira must act decisively. The window for meaningful intervention is closing. Private investigation is not a betrayal of the legal process—it is a necessary supplement to it.

🧾 Conclusion

Justice delayed is already justice denied. But justice abandoned is something far worse. M. Indira Gandhi’s fight has always been about more than one child—it is about the rights of all parents, the sanctity of civil law, and the future of pluralism in Malaysia.

Now, it is also about time.

Spotlight on Zhao Wei after KK Park scam crackdown

Monday, October 27th, 2025

Tension is once again rising along the Thai–Myanmar border following the Myanmar military’s air strikes on KK Park, a notorious scam hub in Myawaddy. Thai residents in Mae Sot district, Tak province, have reported hearing heavy explosions across the Moei River—likened to fireworks set off by the Myanmar Army and the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF).

On 26 October 2025, around 1,243 people of 28 nationalities fled across the Moei River into Thailand as Myanmar troops advanced. Among them were suspected Chinese ringleaders who allegedly slipped through natural crossings in Mae Ramat district, believed to be heading for Kings Romans Casino opposite Chiang Saen, Chiang Rai province.

Although details remain unconfirmed, the mention of Kings Romans inevitably brings to mind Zhao Wei, the chairman of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) in Bokeo province, Laos.

A long shadow of suspicion

In late 2022, Thai whistleblower Chuwit Kamolvisit accused Zhao Wei of links to Tu Hao, a key figure in the Chinese “grey” business network, claiming the Dok Ngiew Kham Company—connected to Tu Hao—had invested in KK Park.

Zhao Wei fired back with a fiery press conference denying any investment by Dok Ngiew Kham in KK Park.

Yet Zhao Wei and his Kings Romans empire have long drawn the attention of Western governments.

In 2023, the UK, Canada and the United States jointly announced sanctions on individuals tied to Chinese-funded enclaves near Thailand’s borders—naming Zhao Wei, She Zhijiang, and Saw Chit Tu—citing UN reports linking them to forced labour and human trafficking through online scams.

It was not Zhao Wei’s first brush with sanctions, but he has consistently denied all allegations of trafficking or narcotics involvement.

The ‘Zhao Wei model’

Beijing began cracking down on cross-border call-centre gangs in 2024, launching the so-called “Zhao Wei model” in coordination with the Lao government to purge telecom-fraud networks within the GTSEZ.

Chinese and Lao police carried out joint raids, after which Laos’s Ministry of Public Security declared early in 2025 that no call-centre gangs remained in the Golden Triangle.

The “Zhao Wei model” contrasts sharply with Myanmar’s lawless “Laukkaing model.” Zhao Wei enjoys official backing from the Lao PDR government and apparent leniency from Beijing, which continues to regard him as a stabilising figure in the region.

Mekong analysts suggest that China’s so-called “grey economy” may serve as an informal geopolitical tool, balancing Western influence while keeping illicit networks under tacit control—ensuring such scam operations never fully disappear.

Zhao Wei’s rise from the Golden Triangle

Over two decades ago, Zhao Wei ran a casino in Mong La, a semi-autonomous Shan State enclave backed by local warlord Sai Leun.

When Yunnan authorities tightened border controls and cracked down on organised crime, Zhao’s casino operations were forced to close.

In 2007, he re-emerged in Laos, securing a 50-year concession to develop the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Ton Pheung district, Bokeo province.

Laotian leaders hailed Zhao Wei as a legitimate investor and visionary developer, turning his enclave into a showcase SEZ for the country.

Zhao Wei developed close ties with Somsavat Lengsavad, the former Lao deputy prime minister of Chinese descent. The two were known to share a personal friendship—Lengsavad’s ancestors had migrated from Wenchang, Hainan, to Luang Prabang during the French colonial era.

During his tenure, Lengsavad personally pushed for the approval of Zhao Wei’s 50-year concession.
 

Beijing’s outpost in the Golden Triangle

Experts note that Zhao Wei’s empire—straddling the frontiers of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand—has become more than a private enterprise.

To many observers, it functions as a strategic outpost of Beijing, keeping watch over US activity in the region and securing China’s foothold in mainland Southeast Asia.

While Western nations see Zhao Wei as a criminal mastermind, others in the Mekong view him as Beijing’s pragmatic operator—the man who turned a no-man’s-land of casinos and trafficking routes into a tool of Chinese influence. 

Filipinos and the Malay world

Many of you may find it strange that I include this article, an opinionated editorial. Fear not. This article really describes the ethnic 'Malays', the Malay Archipelago and who are really the Malays in the greater archipelago especially that group of islands called the Philippines. This essay or article calls for the ethnic Filipinos to be understood (as being ethnic Malays) despite the differences of their locality, religion and colonialism. Hence, the Malaysian writer offered his findings on the status of Filipinos as was noted and documented in the 17th Century by a Filipino lawyer.

Without further explanation here's the opinion piece put up in the New Straits Times (NST):

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument of Philippine national hero, Jose Rizal, during an official visit to the Philippines in March. Rizal’s discovery of a book in London in 1888 reconnected Malays in the Philippines to the Malay world. EPA PIC

Filipinos and the Malay world

By Datuk Dr A Murad Merican, September 12, 2019

THE discovery of a book in London in 1888 by Jose Rizal reconnected the Malays in the Philippines to the Malay world. It was titled, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas (Historical Events of the Philippine Islands), written by Antonio de Morga, a lawyer and official in the Philippines in the 17th century, and published in Mexico in 1609.

In the book, de Morga gave an idea of the connection between the people of Luzon and nearby islands to the rest of the Malay Archipelago. Based on the book, Rizal and his contemporaries then presented to their countrymen a clearer picture of how Malay the Filipinos were beyond the mere and trivial European categorisation of Filipinos as Malay.

The recently concluded two-day deliberations of the 6th International Conference on Culture and History, themed the “Colonial Period in the Malay Archipelago: Civilisational Issues”, was jointly organised by the Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC-IIUM) and the Malaysian Historical Society. It saw two papers (out of 15) resonating on the struggle of the Filipinos to be accepted as part of the Malay world.

Both papers made a plea to be part of the historical space called “Dunia Melayu” (or the Malay world) to cite Ian Christopher B. Alfonso, of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. His paper was titled “Manila 50 Years After Magellan”.

Another paper, “Spanish Colonialism and the Emergence of the Hispanised Malay in the Philippines” was delivered by Dr Fernando A. Santiago Jr. of the Philippine Historical Association and De La Salle University. At one point during his presentation, Santiago declared, “I, Fernando A. Santiago Jr., am a Malay”.

Santiago spoke on the Malayness of the Filipinos and the “Hispanised Malay”, delving on the Filipino seeking an identity, like the Ilustrados or educated Filipinos, enlightened by liberalism in the 19th century.

While searching for their roots, they discovered their historical and racial ties with the rest of the region and began to consider themselves as belonging to the Malay race. The issue of their detached weltanschauung (world view) was raised as a result of Hispanisation and Christianisation, the legacies of the Spanish colonial order and further American colonisation complicate the matrix of Filipino identity.

Santiago reminded that until the 16th century, people from the Philippines were actively involved in the Malay world. The arrival of the Spaniards and later the Americans altered the “predictable course of its history”, and detached the people of the Philippine islands from the rest of the Malay Archipelago.

Manila was part of the Malay Archipelago. The capital of the Philippines since 1571, or 50 years after the episode of the Magellan-Elcano expedition, and we would add, the circumnavigation of Panglima Awang@Enrique de Malacca, Manila had close connections with Brunei, then a vast kingdom in Borneo.

The Spaniards recorded how connected the Manila royalty was with the royalty of the Brunei Sultanate, as well as the continuous sending of Muslim preachers to Manila by the sultanate of Aceh and the Ottoman Empire.

According to Alfonso in his Manila paper, the Spaniards colonised that part of the Malay Archipelago and introduced a completely new order to its inhabitants that were European and Christian and “even taking an extra leap to shut down Borneo, Melaka and Aceh from influencing the natives”.

This Spanish Dunia Melayu was called the Philippines, where its inhabitants were held as hostages, virtually cut off from the Malay world. Although the Spaniards had accidentally reached the Philippines in 1521 on their way to the Moluccas, it was only in 1565 when they began claiming islands in the Malay world, beginning with what was then known to the Spanish world — the unIslamised Visayas.

Alfonso’s account informs us of the Spaniard's progress when they were attempting to reach China and Japan. They learned of the farthest recorded Islamised place in the Malay Archipelago. That place is Luzon. The term “Moro”, then derogatory, was first ascribed by the Spaniards in Asia to the people of Luzon island.

After securing the island, the Spaniards moved southwards, to Brunei, Mindanao and Maluku. Mindanao was annexed to the Spanish world, only to be welcomed with formidable opposition by Sultan Kudarat of Cotabato and the generations of Muslims there until the end of Spanish rule. Maluku was abandoned by the Spaniards in 1663 to be conquered by the Dutch.

After the Spanish conquest of Manila in 1571, Luzon disappeared from the discourse of Islam in the Malay archipelago.

Alfonso took a swipe at Malaysian and Indonesian historians for neglecting “what happened to the Spanish Dunia Melayu or the Philippines from 1521 to 1571”.

Only a handful was written or mentioned, “or even not at all, by Indonesian and Malaysian historians about the politics and history of what we call the Philippines at that time. The Filipinos as Malays do not seem to be in the consciousness of the Malays in the rest of the Archipelago”.

Indeed, it was Malays in the Philippines who were the earliest to resist and be liberated from the Europeans, not the Japanese who marked their superiority when they defeated the Russians in 1905. They could have inspired the Japanese instead.

The bravery of Lapulapu, who defeated the Spaniards in the Visayan island of Mactan, resulting in the death of Magellan in 1521 earlier, inspired a consciousness to the nation.

The declaration of independence of the Philippines on June 12, 1898, evoked the memory of the victory of Mactan as if taking pride that the Spanish colony in the Malay Archipelago, named the Philippines, learned to be free and introduced in Asia the then wave of nationalism.

The death of Magellan was a reminder to the Filipinos that their war against Spain and the United States was also a war on behalf of the oppressed Malays, battered by centuries of colonisation.

What has been resonated is the struggle of the Filipinos to reintegrate “ourselves as part of the Malay world”.

muradmerican@gmail.comy

The writer is a professor at ISTAC-IIUM and the first recipient of the Honorary President Resident Fellowship at the Perdana Leadership Foundation

- The NST

- https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnists/2019/09/520693/filipinos-and-malay-world

Digital border guards with an AI LIE DETECTOR will interrogate travellers over what is in their suitcase at EU borders in a bid to toughen security

• iBorderCtrl will quiz travellers at four crossings in Hungary, Latvia, and Greece
• It uses AI to scan your face while you answer questions about your travels
• The system is part of a six-month trial run by the Hungarian National Police 

A digital border guard will interrogate travellers at some European Union borders in an attempt to ramp up security at crossings. Dubbed iBorderCtrl, the agent features an AI lie detector that quizzes tourists on their trip, including the contents of their suitcase (Mailonline stock)

By Harry Pettit for Mailonline; Published: 1 November 2018

A digital border guard will interrogate travellers at some European Union borders in an attempt to ramp up security at crossings.

Dubbed iBorderCtrl, the agent features an AI lie detector that quizzes tourists on their trip, including the contents of their suitcase.

The system is part of a six-month trial run by the Hungarian National Police at four different border crossing points in Hungary, Latvia, and Greece.

Each crossing borders a country outside of the EU.

If successful, the technology could be rolled out to borders across the union's member states.

'We're employing existing and proven technologies - as well as novel ones - to empower border agents to increase the accuracy and efficiency of border checks,' project coordinator George Boultadakis of European Dynamics in Luxembourg.

'iBorderCtrl's system will collect data that will move beyond biometrics and on to biomarkers of deceit.'

The digital border guard will question people after they have passed through a checkpoint.

It works via your laptop or phone, using your device's camera to record your face when you give answers.

The system then uses AI software to scan the video for 38 'micro-gestures' which it scores to assess whether a traveller is lying.

Questions include, 'What's in your suitcase?' and 'If you open the suitcase and show me what is inside, will it confirm your answers were true?', New Scientist reports.

Those that pass the test will receive a QR code that they can scan to cross the border.

If a traveller doesn't pass the test, the AI will reportedly take a more serious tone, and hand the offender to a human border agent for further questioning.

During the upcoming pilot, iBorderCtrl will quiz real tourists, though it won't affect their ability to travel.

Travellers will be invited to take part in the trial after they have passed through one of the four test crossings.

An early version of the system was tested using 30 volunteers at a fake border crossing.

The system is part of a six-month trial run by the Hungarian National Police at four different border crossing points in Hungary, Latvia, and Greece. Each crossing borders a country outside of the EU (Mailonline stock)

Half were told to lie to the bot, while the other half told the truth. The AI guessed correctly with an accuracy rate of 76 per cent.

Experts said the AI's accuracy rate in the real world could be lower, as people who are told to lie present clearer facial tells than those who fib earnestly.

'If you ask people to lie, they will do it differently and show very different behavioural cues than if they truly lie, knowing that they may go to jail or face serious consequences if caught,' Maja Pantic, a Professor of Affective and Behavioral Computing at Imperial College London, told New Scientist.

'This is a known problem in psychology.' 

With more than 700 million people travel through the EU every year, according to the European Commission, the low hit rate raises concerns over the number of travellers who could get away with lying at the border.

iBorderCtrl team Keeley Crockett, a researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University, said they are 'hopeful' they can bring the accuracy rate up to 85 per cent.

AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn.

ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images - and are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years.

Conventional AI uses the input to 'teach' an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information.

AI systems rely on artificial neural networks (ANNs), which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn. ANNs can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images (Mailonline)

Practical applications include Google's language translation services, Facebook's facial recognition software and Snapchat's image altering live filters.

The process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming and is limited to one type of knowledge.

A new breed of ANNs called Adversarial Neural Networks pits the wits of two AI bots against each other, which allows them to learn from each other.

This approach is designed to speed up the process of learning, as well as refining the output created by AI systems.

- Further reading: An AI lie detector will interrogate travellers at some EU borders | New Scientist

- Mailonline
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6341801/AI-lie-detector-interrogate-travellers-EU-borders.html

Muslim insurgent group says it met with Thai government

Flag of Barisan Revolusi Nasional

Thailand national flag

Panu Wongcha-um, Reuters  |  Published: 17 Aug 2019

The main group fighting an insurgency in Thailand’s largely Muslim south said it had held its first meeting with officials from the new Thai government and had set out demands as a condition for any formal peace talks.

The insurgency in the Malay-speaking region of the predominantly Buddhist country has killed some 7,000 people over the past 15 years and has flared on and off for decades.

Officials of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) said they met a Thai delegation at a location in Southeast Asia on Friday and demanded the release of all people detained over suspected links to the insurgency and a transparent investigation into abuses by security forces.

That could be a step toward formal talks, the officials said, while emphasizing that it was very early in the process.

“If the official peace talks are a feast then these secret meetings are like bringing the cow into the kitchen, but the cow is not even slaughtered yet,” Pak Fakir, 70, a senior BRN member told Reuters in a rare interview.

“The Thai state is like an oiled, slippery eel,” he said.

General Udomchai Thamsarorat (photo below), the head of peace dialogue with southern insurgent groups for the Thai government, declined to comment on whether a meeting had taken place.

The BRN has not been informal talks with the government although contacts did take place at least twice with the former military junta of Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, who has remained as prime minister after an election earlier this year that his opponents said was flawed.

Ongoing war

The past contacts with the BRN never led to talks and it has continued a guerrilla war to demand independence for Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces, which were part of an independent Malay sultanate before the kingdom of Siam annexed them in 1909.

A number of less militarily active southern factions have been in talks with the government.

“The root cause of our problem is colonization, and this has never been touched upon in past talks,” Fakir said.

Although the BRN usually neither confirms nor denies responsibility for specific attacks, Fakir said that the group was not behind a series of small bombings that shook Bangkok on Aug 2.

The bombs wounded four people and embarrassed the government during a regional security summit. Two suspects from the south have been arrested in connection with the attacks.

“We will not attack beyond the three southernmost provinces because we do not want to be perceived as terrorists,” Fakir said. “We have our territory. Why should we venture out of it? ... Someone else must be behind it.”

Despite the arrest of the southerners, the government has also suggested that it could be its political opponents that were behind the attacks - although political parties have condemned it and no group has claimed responsibility.

Tension has been rising in the south over allegations that a southern man, 32-year-old Abdullah Isamusa, was beaten so badly during military interrogation last month that he fell into a coma. The army has said there is no proof of torture.

Mara Patani, an umbrella group representing some factions that unlike the BRN have been informal talks with the Thai military, has called for international intervention after the Abdullah case - a request rejected by Thailand’s army.

- Reuters

- Mkini

- https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/488365