Petrol stations – first place to control spread of Covid-19

 

From Baharuddin Mohd Isa

Human resources minister S Saravanan’s assertion that foreign workers are not allowed to enter the country until Dec 31 is a timely reminder that we are not out of the woods where the Covid-19 pandemic is concerned.

Despite Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob revealing that 80% of the adult population has been vaccinated, the variants of the virus have been evolving. It is feared that these new variants could be spread by foreigners who may have been exposed and infected in their own countries.

This is why the government should be looking more holistically with regards to allowing foreign workers to come back into the country.

Various news reports have put job losses at between 150,000 to 400,000 since the pandemic spread. These are Malaysian jobs that have been lost and the rehabilitation of the economy and opening up of more employment opportunities should prioritise Malaysians.

While the human resources minister in the Sept 20 Bernama report had referred to domestic maids among those yet to be allowed to return or come into the country, there is one industry where the government can review the need for foreign workers.

In 1997, the government had introduced self-service petrol stations to address the over-dependence on foreign workers.

Despite this policy being implemented for 24 years, how often have we motorists pulled into a petrol station to be greeted by a foreign worker asking what type of petrol we want; how much we want; and if we are using cash or credit card? And then proceeds to fill up for you?

This goes against the common sense understanding of “self-service”.

Traditional jobs

With a pandemic that is still far from being under control, we need to minimise our physical interaction with others – be they foreign or local.

In the meantime, with regards to the economy which has been severely battered by the pandemic, one would not be out of place to query if jobs traditionally reserved for foreigners could be opened up to locals?

Even the counters at petrol stations are mostly manned by foreign workers.

While one cannot ignore the fact that this country in the last 25 years or so was built on the backbones of migrant workers, perhaps the time is ripe now, to give preference to locals.

With reports suggesting that the pandemic has raised our B40 group to B60 or even a B80, Malaysians who perhaps at one time were too choosy in picking jobs may be ready to reconsider their options.

With jobs getting scarce, perhaps economic sectors that at one time gravitated towards hiring foreigners may now need to look at a workforce comprising locals.

Obviously, companies would prefer to hire foreign workers as the wages are lower and there are no regulatory payments.

But with a pandemic that is also seeing clusters and variants in foreign workers’ living quarters, perhaps the government can introduce a policy that kills two birds with one stone – controlling the spread of the virus while providing more employment opportunities to locals.

Perhaps it can start with petrol stations and implement what it decided almost a quarter-century ago. - FMT

Baharuddin Mohd Isa is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.