Long-drawn out labour process not by choice, minister tells Maria Chin

Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said the long-drawn-out process to recruit domestic helpers from Indonesia was not by choice.

This was after Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah questioned Saravanan's priorities, pointing out that many industries are in dire need of foreign labour.

However, Saravanan (above) pointed out that Indonesia has made it a precondition to resolve the domestic helper recruitment before it will allow the recruitment of industrial workers.

"It is not that I am dying to sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Indonesia for maids, but unfortunately, the MOU has expired for many years and now Indonesia has made it a condition that until Malaysia signs the MOU for maids, the country is not going to allow any other workers to go to Malaysia.

"That was the reason why we tried to sign the MOU, this (long process) is not what we want," he told Malaysiakini.

Saravanan said Maria should reach out to him instead of criticising him in public.

"When she doesn't know her facts then she must call and ask. How long are you going to get this cheap publicity?

"At least she should have the basic courtesy to call and ask me what is happening.

"You are an MP, you are not a layperson on the street. At least text me, if I do not respond then you can attack us," Saravanan said.

Many industries struggling

Yesterday, Maria expressed concern about what she described as a disconnect in the government's workers management policy.

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah

She said while the government has been pushing to resolve the issue of domestic workers, many industries are struggling to recruit foreign workers despite an economic recovery after almost two years of regression due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maria cited figures from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) that over 600,000 foreign workers are needed this year to overcome an acute manpower shortage and bring businesses back to pre-pandemic levels.

This was aggravated by the unwillingness of locals to take up such jobs.

"If disconnected efforts continue in the management of workers and small and medium enterprise (SME) industries, we will not see our economy growing but become laden with even more challenges, especially in acute shortage of good and relevant workers," Maria said.

Saravanan said he was fully aware of the acute shortage and was working on it round the clock.

"Prior to the (Covid-19) lockdown, there were 1.8 million workers registered with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and today, there are only 1.1 million workers. Almost 700,000 have left the country.

"I know it is a huge shortage and I am working on it day and night to bring workers from source countries.

"But at the same time, I want to make sure the industry players do not abuse jobs meant for locals," he said.

Malaysia is also in the midst of a labour deal with Bangladesh but it has come under criticism for its secrecy and the alleged attempt by syndicates to monopoly the process.  - Mkini