KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — The Malaysia Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has lamented Malaysia’s lack of progress in providing child care for the working class, claiming the issue has stalled in the last two decades.

The MTUC said the issue is still not taken seriously by all sectors, amid numerous tragic incidents involving child abuses and death of infants in daycare centres in the past years.

"Childcare centre is an old issue. The issue was discussed at length 20 years ago,” its president Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor told Malay Mail when asked to weigh in over the issue.

He said that the government, the employers and MTUC had come to an understanding, but no actions were taken.

"[But] it was not Implemented, because (it) was not taken seriously as a primary issue, but taken as secondary issue — meaning the cases will be handled when and as how seriously they happen.”

Abdul Halim urged Putrajaya to summon all ministers involved with such cases, and a committee should be chaired by the Ministry of Human Resources, involving other ministries including Women’s, Health, and Domestic Trade.

He also suggested that while employers who provide daycare should receive incentive, employees should also be able to pay daycare fees deducted from their wages.

Meanwhile, a childcare centre can even be a one-stop centre for latch-key children after they return home from schools, he said.

"MTUC prays for the incidents to stop from happening,” he added.

The issue of daycare entered public discourse again after the death of five-month-old Adam Rayqal Mohd Sufi, who was found stuffed inside the freezer compartment of a refrigerator at his caretaker’s home.