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KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) — The government only sets the cost of employing domestic maids from Indonesia, while the cost of employing maids from other countries is determined by supply and demand, Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib said today.
He said Malaysia and Indonesia had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the matter where the cost had been fixed at RM7,800 for each maid.
“The cost is reasonable by taking account the cost set by other receiving countries, like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Middle East countries,” he said during the question and answer session in Parliament today.
He was responding to a question by Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP-Beruas) who wanted to know the procedures in getting domestic maids from other countries and the reason for the high cost involved.
Ismail said currently, there were two mechanisms being used for the employment of foreign maids in the country, with the first through the MoU signing and the other, not through the MoU mechanism.
“Currently, the recruitment through the MoU is only with Indonesia, where employers are not allowed to employ domestic maids directly,” he added.
Instead, he said, it had to be done through a third party, which is a private agency that is recognised by both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments.
“For other resource countries which do not have the MoU, the process is through the embassies of the respective countries in Malaysia and based on existing immigration regulations,” he added.
Ismail, who is Maran Member of Parliament, also said maid agencies in Indonesia were more keen to send their maids to other countries, compared with Malaysia, was due to the cost factor.
“The factor of uncompetitive salary is also a reason not many trained-maids from Indonesia want to work in Malaysia,” he added.
Source: Bernama
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