The recommendation came in the wake of a report about the arrest of security guards with fake identity cards.

“The biometric machine will be able to detect if an IC is fake or genuine,” Stadam president Khirudin Tajudin told FMT. “There is also a display to see if the face matches the photo on the card.”

Last Tuesday, the National Registration Department detained two illegal immigrants with fake identity cards under its “Op ID”. A news report said the two were Filipinos working as security guards and they were arrested at the government quarters in Jalan Duta.

Khirudin said the onus was on security companies to ensure their personnel had proper documents and were not illegal immigrants.

“Security personnel should be Malaysian or those with valid documents,” he said. “The security companies shouldn’t hire illegals just because they are cheap and because they want to avoid paying the minimum wage.

“There must be a strict vetting process.”

Khirudin also urged clients to ensure that they hire guards only from legitimate security companies.

“Clients should practise due diligence when it comes to hiring security personnel,” he said. “They should not just go for what is cheap.”