I had an enlightening conversation over dinner last night with another ex-pat.
Yes, security is everywhere. My hotel has a metal detector, through which I am gestured every day. And every day my many sources of metal set it off. No one reacts to the alarm.
Work has the bag check guy, who has never really even vaguely checked my backpack.
The consistent thread is the appearance of security, without any follow-through or diligence behind it.
So the many guards and checks seem strange to me, but they have not really prevented me from doing anything. I'm left wondering why they bother...