JOHOR BARU, Dec 16 — In a quiet, almost hidden corner of Pasir Gudang, there is a bustling community of nearly 1,500 foreign nationals.

A key manufacturing and industrial hub in Iskandar Malaysia—the main southern development corridor in Johor—Pasir Gudang is a “foreign workers’ enclave”; a privately-driven initiative that houses all foreign workers under one well-maintained roof.

This prevents the workers being taken advantage of by unscrupulous landlords who are not above crowding them into a small space.

Here, the motley crew of migrants hailing from as far as Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines regard each other as “brothers”, a label they prefer over the “criminal” tag they get stuck with when living outside the community.

More significantly, the enclave, a cluster of refurbished formerly abandoned local government flats, was created to help Johoreans feel safer in the presence of this growing population of foreign workers, most of whom are needed to fill worker vacancies in Malaysia’s burgeoning southern economic region.

“It’s a win-win here... it’s good for them, and it’s good for the locals,” said Nor Hisham Hussein, head of social development in Iskandar Region Development Authority (IRDA), the federal statutory body in charge of Iskandar Malaysia.

Workers returning home to the Air Biru foreign workers enclave, Iskandar Malaysia's pilot housing project for migrant workers in the region.

“We don’t want the influx of foreign workers in Iskandar Malaysia to have a major social impact on the community but at the same time, we need to take care of them when they are here... their safety, their well-being and also, our country’s,” he told The Malay Mail Online during our recent visit to the enclave.

With the rapid industrialisation of Iskandar Malaysia, the exponential growth of investments in the region since its inception in late November 2006 -- RM129.42 billion as at October this year—and the creation of more than 500,000 job opportunities, the region’s need for more foreign workers is inevitable.

According to a report on IRDA’s website, there were more than 200,000 foreign workers in Iskandar Malaysia alone in 2009, just over two years after the region’s kick-off.

In Pasir Gudang alone, there are an estimated 70,000 foreign workers, most of them in civil engineering work for shipbuilding, petrochemicals, transportation and logistics and other heavy industries.

“We needed to be pragmatic about it. We still depend on foreign workers. But the question is - while they are here, who is going to manage them?” Nor Hisham said.

The movement of workers at Iskandar Malaysia's private enclave for foreign workers is monitored by a biometric access system fitted at each flat block.

Outsourcing housing to irresponsible businessmen, he complained, often leads to overcrowding in tiny shoplots and more often than not, the problem of crime, drugs, alcoholism and other vice activities.

Housing all foreign workers in a closely-monitored but comfortable public flat fully equipped with double-layer fencing, 24-hour security surveillance, CCTVs and biometric attendance and access systems, appeared to be the best way to go, he added.

The enclave at Air Biru public flats in Pasir Gudang, was one of three original sites identified by IRDA for the initiative in 2007 and today, it has turned out to be its most successful pilot project, Nor Hisham said.

“The beauty of this programme is that what we are doing is we are assisting the government,” Nor Hisham said.

“If the government were to build this place, it would be a burden to them. So we turned to the concept of privatisation.

“We took existing, abandoned buildings, turned them around (renovate) and brought in a third party to operate them, according to a set of specific guidelines by IRDA,” he said.

The guidelines, Nor Hisham said, encompasses details such as the number of workers allowed into each unit, the size of each unit, the facilities, safety concerns and house rules.

MCM Reka operation manager Mohd Hidzir Ithnin oversees the Air Biru foreign workers enclave in Pasir Gudang, Johor.

“Before Iskandar Malaysia came up with this, employers handled workers on their own. They outsourced lodgings... and what happens is that once you don’t have a specific standard to follow, that’s when you cramp 30 people in a unit, you put them up in shoplots and the locals complain,” he pointed out.

In the 10-block flat cluster of Rumah Pangsa Air Biru, four blocks are currently part of IRDA’s foreign workers enclave programme. They are managed and operated entirely by private local firm MCM Reka Sdn Bhd.

“These flats were abandoned for 10 years. We spent technically zero... MCM Reka bore the entire reconstruction cost, IRDA just came up with the ideas.

“But as far as their investment is concerned, it is not that big because the structure already exists, there was only need for minor renovation like the toilets and so on,” Nor Hisham said.

“And that’s the idea for the enclave... we do not want to reinvent the wheel. Why not make use of these existing units, and turn them around?”.

Each 650 sq ft unit at the Air Biru enclave has two bedrooms with two double-decker beds each, a private living room and one toilet. IRDA only permits eight workers to each unit - one worker per bed.

Tenants at the Air Biru enclave are each responsible for the cleanliness of their respective units.

Nor Hisham said at many other outsourced lodgings, an overcrowded unit could mean that workers only get to use their beds in shifts, resulting in most of them loitering outside or sleeping on the five-foot way outside their shoplot homes.

“We strictly disallow this. It is one worker to a bed and they are each tasked with the responsibility of keeping their units clean, keeping noise levels manageable and most important of all - they are all taught to treat one another like brothers, regardless their nationality,” he said.

Each worker also has an access card that records their movements to and from their flats. Each flat is equipped with a unique access system, which prohibits the workers from moving from flat to flat or sleeping over at each other’s unit.

The flats are also kept under 24-hour surveillance and are monitored by a warden who is responsible for looking out for the workers daily and keeping them in check. 

Daily curfew is strictly set at 12 midnight.

Workers returning home to the Air Biru foreign workers enclave, Iskandar Malaysia's pilot housing project for migrant workers in the region.

Those who venture in too late will have their records sent to their respective companies for future action.

Nor Hisham said MCM Reka is given the full responsiblity of managing the flat blocks and the workers, and in return, rental for each accommodation is paid by the workers’ respective employers directly to the firm.

Monthly rental for a fully furnished unit for each worker is RM120.

“Right now, we have 1,176 workers living in these four blocks.. from Nepal, Myanmar, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. We have room for 1,450 workers in the four blocks.

“According to our guidelines, there must not be more than 5,000 workers living in one enclave alone - that is by police recommendation,” he said.

Nor Hisham said the original idea was to take over all 10 blocks in the cluster - a work in progress for IRDA, due to existing tenants living in the remaining six blocks of Rumah Pangsa Air Biru.

MCM Reka operation manager Mohd Hidzir Ithnin who oversees the Air Biru enclave said since the initiative kicked off, there have been few records of problems involving the foreign residents.

“The most common problem is that many of them get drunk after work. But we tackle the problem internally so it is minimised.

IRDA chief executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim speaking to The Malay Mail Online at a recent interview in Johor.

“We cannot stop them from drinking outside the enclave... and we cannot treat them like prisoners so we just make sure there aren’t any fights and we deal with each problem as it comes,” he said.

Sometimes, Mohd Hidzir said, a drunken worker who causes too much of a ruckus is locked up at the bicycle parking until he is sober enough to be allowed back into his unit.

“So they just sleep there till they sober up. That’s the best we can do... as long as they are not causing problems outside or with their flatmates,” he said.

With the success of Air Biru, Nor Hisham said the same enclave will be replicated in many other zones in Iskandar Malaysia, depending on the demand from employers.

“It’s a system that works and because the security issue has always been one of our topmost priority in Iskandar Malaysia, this seems like a good formula to enhance the confidence levels of not just the Johoreans, but our investors and tourists,” he said.

“Surprisingly... people used to think that when you have foreign workers, there will be a security impact on the locals.

“But it is the other way around sometimes,” Nor Hisham added, laughing. “The locals cause a nuisance to foreign workers!”

A foreign worker poses for a picture as he moves into his new home in the Air Biru flats, Pasir Gudang.

But Nor Hisham said there was still a need to make sure migrant workers are well protected and monitored during their work stint in Malaysia, or specifically, in Iskandar Malaysia.

“The best thing is that this place has become something like their safe zone. When there are problems outside, they are sometimes chased by the locals... and what they do is they run inside to keep safe... the locals can’t get in here,” he pointed out.