KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — DAP national chairman Lim Guan Eng today raised questions about whether the Immigration Department’s Maid Online System (MOS) can be used for foreign workers in industries other than for domestic helpers.
The Bagan MP said in a statement that the use of the MOS to hire foreign workers in other sectors could help address “the foreign workers fiasco that has damaged the economy and affected economic growth”.
“The government must realise that the plantation, manufacturing, tourism and retail sector are forced to reject new orders due to the 1.2 million worker shortage. Unless this is clarified and quickly resolved, the plantation and glove industry alone are facing losses of RM21 billion and the damage could run to tens of billions of ringgit more if other sectors are included,” Lim said.
He also criticised Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan’s “weak response” to the accusation from Indonesian ambassador Hermono that Malaysia had broken its promises in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Indonesian maids, saying that Saravanan was irresponsible for not disputing the claims that constituted a public attack by another country.
Hermono said yesterday that Malaysia had breached the MoU by continuing to use the MOS for the recruitment of Indonesian maids as both countries had agreed to replace the system with the One Channel System instead.
In response, Jakarta issued a freeze order on the entry of Indonesian workers to Malaysia, stopping the processing of new requests from Indonesians seeking work in Malaysia.
Saravanan responded by saying that the Ministry of Human Resources (KSM) will hold urgent discussions with the Home Ministry (KDN).
The MoU was signed by Malaysia and Indonesia on April 1 and provided for the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic helpers through regulations for pay, days off, social security and law enforcement.
