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?
A Taxpayer MORE than 20 years ago, the then prime minister announced the privatisation policy with the aim of achieving the following: » Relieve financial and administrative burdens of government; » Improve efficiency and productivity; » Facilitate and stimulate economic growth; » Reduce the size of public sector; and » Promote and meet targets of […]
BY EMMANUEL JOSEPH Mention the words “trade union” and “worker movement” and you conjure up images of angry men in jeans and khaki shirts holding up anti-employer signs in one hand and punching the air with his fist with the other. In the Malaysian context, unionists would bring to mind mid-aged guys in tight fitting […]
If it were not for the rail-thin frame of 42-year-old Krishna Neupane, it would be hard to believe that he had lost 56 kilos during his eight-month detention in Malaysia. From an overweight 94 kilos, he now weighs 38 kilos, which puts him in the category of ‘severely malnourished’. But this drastic change in his […]
The concern over trade or workers’ unions in Malaysia has never been remarkable. Having repressive laws that inhibited the influence of trade unions even since t colonial era, Malaysians paid little attention to the role of trade unions in a society’s welfare. Moreover, with hudud and GST clogging up the public sphere, probably less Malaysians are […]
By Teh Wei Soon IN today’s fast-paced world, how many of us are actually willing to undertake unpaid work, or would not mind to accept a low-wage job amid skyrocketing living cost? While it is undeniable that there are still many altruistic souls in our society who selflessly help others on a humanitarian basis, but […]
Malaysia aspires to be a high-income economy and “fully developed” by 2020. The government set these lofty goals almost 25 years ago, but recently it has gone further, asserting the country is on track to reach its target for gross national income per capita of $15,000 by 2018, two years ahead of schedule. However, labor […]
Written by Teh Wei Soon “MIGRATION is an expression of the human aspiration for dignity, safety and a better future. It is part of the social fabric, part of our very make-up as a human family,” – Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General According to UN statistics from 2014, there are around 232 million international immigrants in […]
By S Ramakrishnan The minimum wage was introduced by the Human Resources Ministry after it found out that about 34 percent of private sector employees earn less than RM700 per month, which is below the poverty line of RM800. A similar study in 2010 revealed that 48 percent of Malaysian employees earn less than RM1,000 […]
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