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?
Ah, maids. They have become an
integral part of the urban Malaysian household but talking about them can still
invoke a gamut of sentiments from their employers.
<P>But whether regarded
as helpers from heaven or hussies from hell, the estimated 350,000 foreign domestic
servants in the country are indispensable to families that have hired them. </P><P>While
there are slave drivers among us, the majority of Malaysians who hire maids take
fairly good care of them. They are treated as part of the family and included
in holidays and fun events. </P><P>Despite this, the country’s image has
been sullied by several highly publicised crimes against maids, including rape,
beating, scalding, and searing with hot objects. </P><P>Some of the brutal cases
of abuse by employers were highlighted in last year’s Human Rights Watch
(HRW) report, including an infamous case still being ironed out in the courts.
</P><P>But if it is any consolation, we received the dishonourable mention along
with our First World-status neighbour. Yes, there are some areas left where we
are still on par with Singapore. </P><P>As noted by HRW, the cases brought to
justice are not isolated but typical of the treatment that many maids undergo,
but are afraid to flee or report to the authorities. </P><P>These days, however,
a different kind of fear involving maids has been making the news. It’s the
psychological phobia faced by the wives of employers, specifically, of maids proposed
to be sourced from China. </P><P>Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh
Ahmad’s recent suggestion of tapping China to ease the shortage from Indonesia
and the Philippines stirred the proverbial hornet’s nest. </P><P>Over the
past two weeks, women in the Chinese community – which employs between 70%
and 80% of the foreign maids in the country – have been raising a chorus
of alarm over the plan. </P><P>The frenzy has even succeeded in uniting women
from Barisan Nasional component parties and their archrivals from the DAP into
adopting a rare common stand. </P><P>Wanita MCA chief Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen exhorted
the Home Affairs Ministry to hold off the plan “unless clear guidelines on
the recruitment are laid out, and the interests of local women are protected”.
</P><P>Some women from China, she said, were already enticing local married men
into having affairs with them, stressing the point that the existing fires spewed
by “little dragon ladies” should not be allowed to get out of control.
</P><P>Penang Wanita Gerakan chief Ng Siew Lai lamented that many husbands from
the community were spending too much time in karaoke lounges and pubs employing
wanton women from China. </P><P>DAP Wanita national publicity secretary Teresa
Kok concurred, saying there was much distrust of such sirens among the local Chinese
community in the wake of the numerous marriages wrecked by them. </P><P>So far,
the only temperate response has come from Chong Eng, DAP Wanita chief and MP for
Bukit Mertajam. She said there should not be any bias or discrimination against
these Chinese nationals. </P><P>The prejudice against these poor would-be maids
is indeed unjust. From the ruckus raised, the picture conjured is one of the evil
succubus, the mythical spirit that seduces sleeping men. </P><P>Much of the anxiety
is misplaced, hinging only on the premise that the Government is opening the floodgates
to young and pretty women who will be easy fodder for randy husbands. </P><P>It
is certainly not fair to associate all women from the country with louche ones
who are here to make a fast buck in seedy entertainment centres, or the girls
who have gained notoriety for conning gullible Ah Peh in rural areas of their
retirement money. </P><P>As Malaysian Association of Foreign Housemaids Agencies
(Papa) president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan has pointed out, it won’t really
be a case of “pretty maids all in a row” from China. </P><P>According
to him, girls from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are “prettier and cuter”
and, as such, if nobody is complaining about hiring them, along with maids from
India, Laos, Nepal, Myanmar and Timor Leste, there shouldn’t be so much fuss
over maids from China. </P><P>Perhaps, the only long-term solution, as advocated
by Dr Ng, is to set up efficient and professional childcare centres and to stop
relying on foreign maids to bring up children. </P><P>She has urged single mothers,
housewives and pensioners to consider starting the business in their homes, adding
that the 2008 Budget would look at childcare as one of the key issues under social
development. </P><P>But until a credible childcare industry is fully developed,
it looks like most Malaysians would have no other choice but to rely on maids
to take care of their children as well as the aged and the infirm. </P><P>In the
meantime, it’s better for all parties to remain rational rather than rabid
on the issue of foreign maids, irrespective of where they are sourced. </P><P><I>Deputy
News Editor M. Veera Pandiyan who had to learn to run errands, clean and cook
very early in his life, has never hired a domestic maid and has no plan to do
so in the future.</I></P><P>Source: http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?file=/2007/6/7/columnists/alongthewatchtower/17943153&sec=Along%20The%20Watchtower
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com