'Foreign husbands are not romantic, but...'

The voices of local residents are loud and clear – they are unsatisfied with the presence of foreigners who were arrested in an operation around the city of Kota Bharu recently.

They also recorded photos and videos during the operation, with many praising the authorities for raiding and checking foreigners around the Kota Bharu city bus stop.

As authorities rounded up foreigners and seized passports, several local women approached police and immigration officials.

Some expressed concern that their husbands would not be released and others wanted to explain their situation to the authorities.

Suddenly, there were also some individuals who wanted to take vehicle keys from foreigners who were ready to board the police truck.

It doesn't end there, there are also foreigners who have just returned from another city and are said to be stopping for a while in Kota Bharu because they are planning to board a boat at an illegal base to return to their home country via Thailand.

That is one of the things that the writer can see when participating in the coverage of such operation. There are many situations that need to be dealt with by the authorities.

That's just an area of less than one kilometre and not included in other districts.

I don't want to point the finger at the residents because we also don't know the possibility that some middlemen or agents bring them to this state, of course, to work.

However, after meeting a woman who admitted to marrying a foreigner, she revealed that marrying a foreigner could bring certain 'benefits.'

The 32-year-old woman does not mind marrying a Bangladeshi who is said to be hardworking. The woman who was previously a single mother of two is now married to a 40-year-old Bangladeshi.

As a result of the efforts of her husband who lives in this country on a tourist visa, the woman now has a business license in advertising.

"Bangladeshi men are not romantic but different from Malay men," said the woman.

The writer and a group of journalists who heard his story just looked at each other and smiled among themselves.

Maybe they had enough with the first marriage or indeed ‘overseas’ men give more happiness or provide sustenance, who knows?

The writer also met with a woman who works in the professional field, who totally disagrees with local women marrying foreigners.

She said that some foreigners marry locals merely to exploit the opportunity to live comfortably in the country using their wives' important documents.

"I heard that some are willing to get married because they are given monthly money, some up to RM500 a month even though their lives are not as husband and wife and they live separately," said the woman.

Maybe it's true what the woman said. Before getting into something that serious, one should think again and don't look for problems.

The Kelantan State Immigration Department on Friday arrested a total of 238 foreigners in Ops Kutip, most of them from Myanmar, Pakistan, India and Thailand.

Ops Kutip was implemented together with the Kota Bharu Municipal Council (MPKB), the Kelantan State Registration Department (JPN) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).

The most arrested were Myanmar nationals with 115 men, three women and four children. Also arrested were 13 Nepalese nationals, 14 Indonesian nationals and 76 Bangladeshi nationals.

The arrests were made for offences such as lacking a valid travel document and overstaying.

Anyway, congratulations to the authorities and law enforcers who did not abuse the detained foreigners.

* Aswany Omar is a reporter for Sinar Harian Kelantan