Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
Selena Tay
Is it hard to understand why our government keeps bringing in foreign workers while Malaysians continue to live in poverty.
COMMENT
As our nation nears the realisation of Vision 2020, the income gap between the general worker and those at executive level is getting wider by the day, so much so it’s more a yawning abyss than a gap.
A general worker earns around RM900 per month while executives, at least RM4,000 and above.
The minimum wage of RM900 is barely enough for a single person living in Kuala Lumpur, much less for someone with a family, and this wage should be revised to at least RM1,300.
Food prices and room rent have continued to spiral and if there is another round of fuel price hike in the near future, earning RM900 will be a new marker for living at the poverty level.
With wages for blue-collar workers still low, the influx of foreign workers is certainly not helping as many employers prefer to employ the latter in an effort to minimise operating costs and overheads.
A small consolation is that there are still some employers who prefer to employ locals. The government can play a role at reinforcing this preference by ensuring there are laws in place to lessen the intake of foreign workers, so that more employers turn to locals to fulfil job vacancies.
It is now up to the government to nip rising levels of poverty in the bud because failure to do so will cause society’s next generation to continue this nasty cycle where poverty dictates their lives and obtaining a sound education is less of a priority.
Malaysians with only a secondary school education must equip themselves with skills training so they are more marketable for good jobs. Or possibly consider setting up small businesses.
If they can do this, it will be a win-win situation for all Malaysians so that everyone can enjoy their slice of the economic pie.
We understand the plight of those seeking employment overseas. However we cannot overlook that many of these foreign workers are also illiterate besides being carriers of tuberculosis, which has since resurfaced in Malaysia.
A short walk around the KL Central Market district will reveal many Bangladeshi, Nepali and Myanmar businesses have mushroomed in every nook and corner – grocery shops, mobile phone shops, barbers and mini markets with signboards in their respective languages, are just some of the many that exist.
A friend of this columnist who is in charge of opening new bank accounts for foreign workers in that locality mentioned she contracted tuberculosis due to exposure to them on a daily basis.
Two questions for the government – how about taking concrete steps to protect our own citizens first by assisting those in the poor and lower-income brackets?
Is this not what a caring government whose slogan ‘People First’, should do?
No one in Malaysia should dwell in poverty while we aim to become a First World Nation by 2020.
Selena Tay is a FMT columnist
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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