KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — The RM1,200 monthly salary proposed by the Indonesian government for their maids should only be applicable for trained domestic helpers with at least four years of experience, said National Association of Employment Agencies chief executive officer Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan.

He said maids without proper training or experience should be paid RM900, in line with Malaysia’s minimum wage.

“Experienced maids are adept in maintaining a household and are well-equipped to start their service immediately.

“It is unfair to expect the employers to pay RM1,200 for an inexperienced maid, as additional training and time will be needed,” he said.

“It would only be justified if the maids are of high quality as per the Memorandum of Understanding that states maids must have 200 hours of training.”

Raja Zulkepley said the local domestic helper market was in short supply and the demand for higher pay could be seen as an attempt to make profit from the situation.

“If we don’t meet their demands, they (the Indonesian government) will send us a diplomatic protest and stop maids from coming.”

He was concerned the rise in wages would also lead to other problems, as employers who could not afford the maids could hire through illegal channels.

“We should discourage, not encourage illegal workers who will be vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse.

“I do care about their (maids) well-being. We all know what happens to illegal workers,” he said.

He said Malaysia was rapidly becoming the least favorite destination for domestic workers.

“I went to the training centres in Surabaya and Jakarta and saw thousands of maids getting ready to be sent to Hong Kong and Taiwan.”

Raja Zulkepley also said people would end up paying higher salaries, and hoped something could be done to mitigate this.

Indonesia Embassy’s deputy chief of mission Hermono told the press last week the wage hike was proposed during a meeting with the Human Resources Ministry in Putrajaya on May 12 and 13.

He said it was proposed to make the job more competitive in Malaysia.

Indonesia came close to stopping Indonesian women from working as maids in Malaysia last year following cases of abuse and mistreatment in the country.