I used to live in a neighbourhood full of foreigners – Middle Easterners, Europeans, Americans, Africans and many others of different shades and smells, who dwelt in the numerous condominiums, apartments and flats in the area.

Just like the residents of certain condominiums in Cheras, Shah Alam and Sunway, who have had to put up with the bad behaviour of Africans as reported in the media recently, I too have similar stories to share.

I remember never being able to bring my kids to the condominium playground because the Libyans dominated it. The Libyan parents would hold the swings, see-saws and monkey bars so other Libyan children could take turns using it. In the two years I lived there, local kids, including my own, were denied access to playground facilities because of these selfish foreigners.

In another apartment I lived in not too long before that, it was normal to come across soiled sanitary napkins on the walkways, on the bonnet of a neighbour’s car, and literally falling from the sky. I had a “close encounter” with one as well and I remember that it took the management months before the culprits were tracked down – it was the work of Indonesian women living there.

My one-week-old Camry was also broken into, all its brand new windows and lights smashed one fine morning. Others car owners suffered a similar fate coupled with house break-ins occurring once too often. After numerous police reports and complaints, a group of Bangladeshis occupying a few units were arrested. Inside the units, police found a few car radio systems, electrical items and other personal valuables of other residents.

So I can totally understand what the residents who are trying to ban the Africans are going through. Sometimes all people want is a little peace and serenity and when they are constantly deprived of it in their own homes, drastic action must be taken.

But here’s the thing – although I’ve lived in places where foreigners make life less than tolerable for others, our residents’ associations never did deny any particular group from making our neighbourhood their home by banning them altogether.

Perhaps it’s because we were a tolerant lot – you know, the type who preferred to roll our eyes and talk behind one’s back rather than channel our frustrations into any real kind of “action”, so to speak. We all know Malaysians are fabulous at tolerating one another – and we are, after all, typical Malaysians.

It’s like how we, condo residents tolerate our Chinese neighbours who allow their children to swim naked in the pool; take their kids to pee by the garden during playtime; leave dog poop along corridors; and dog pee stinking up our lifts.

Or how we tolerate our Indian counterparts, who enjoy getting drunk late into the night by the pool area, leaving all their liquor bottles strewn about the place only to be found by little kids the next day; spending hours along the corridors yapping loudly and denying others a good night sleep; and blasting those Rajinikanth movies on their speakers, invading everyone else’s private space.

It’s exactly how we tolerate our Malay neighbours who have this odd habit of throwing their trash inside the lifts; leaving leftover food along the corridors for stray cats to feast on, turning our block into a mini zoo; singing karaoke every weekend night leaving our eardrums close to bleeding; and allowing their kids to vandalise facilities meant for all condo dwellers.

Truth is, we are all human, flaws and all.

While we bicker about African drug pushers, scammers, thieves and troublemakers, there are as much (or even more) local residents who are equally guilty of bad behaviour and of committing these types of crime. Many blame Africans for harassing Malaysian women but how many reports have been lodged against them compared to the reports about harassment/molestation/rape/murder that our local men have been accused of?

Why then don’t we have banners to keep these locals out of our neighbourhoods? Why don’t we plaster their photos everywhere and bring shame on them?

Let me ask you – if we suspect someone of being involved in illegal activities, the right thing to do is lodge a police report. Why then can we not lodge police reports against foreigners we suspect of not having valid documents or of being involved in illegal activities instead of deploying uncivilised ways of declaring them outcasts?

To keyboard warriors who support the call to ban our African brothers and sisters from our neighbourhoods, I have a message for you: “The next time you or your loved ones are harassed, hurt or made a victim by a fellow Malaysian criminal, please look at yourself in the mirror.”