GIVE maids from other countries a chance to work in this country?, India, Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Timor, Kazakhstan, Turkemenistan Options

[SoCal]

Let’s give it a try
By ROHAIZAN RAMLI and SYAHIRAH SHUKRI

GIVE maids from other countries a chance to work in this country? That was a common view of members of the public interviewed yesterday. They were asked to comment on the latest move to consider bringing in maids from seven other countries in addition to Indonesia.



The countries that have been suggested are India, Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Timor Leste, Kazakhstan and Turkemenistan.

Here are the opinions of those interviewed.

http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/We...icle/index_html

[theng]

Lately from what I read in the newspapers,they planned to bring in maids from China.

We have enough problems with those Indonesian maids,don't think we need anymore pendatang asing to make things worse.

This post has been edited by theng: May 25 2007, 06:11 PM

[Hegel]

maid = easy sex

[firdausj]

Please advised your Home Affairs Minister Radzi Sheikh to import aliens from other planet if he wants cheap migrant workers ......... So, he can treat migrant workers as aliens (not as human being)...

Sorry bro .. i have to say like that ....

Migrant workers and the 'ugly' Malaysia
Saturday, May 26. 2007
The Malaysian government is looking away from Indonesia when it comes to recruiting maids, just as more and more Indonesians are seeking work in countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Higher wages are the main reason cited for this shift in preferred destination, but there are other causes and motives that dissuade Indonesian migrant workers from choosing Malaysia despite its historical and cultural ties.

The love-hate relationship between the two countries, dating back to the Konfrontasi (confrontation) over Borneo in the mid-1960s, is still with us. Indonesia in its big brother mode and modern Malaysia have been clashing over migrant worker issues for years.

The New Straits Times recently reported that the significant reduction in applicants for maid positions is "a blessing in disguise for Malaysian employers". The Malaysian government is now mulling over bringing in maids from India, Laos, Nepal, Vietnam, Timor Leste, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan as alternatives.

Imran Imtiaz Shah Jacob, Kuala Lumpur

Maids from these countries would cost between RM 400 and RM 500 (US$140) per month, no more than maids from Indonesia. Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Radzi Sheikh was quoted as saying that employment agents were "sending second- and third-class maids and we are not happy about it". Another source of unhappiness over the issue of Indonesian migrant workers stems from the common view that such workers are the main cause of the rise of crime in Malaysia.

Ominously, on the same day, the local dailies also carried a news report blaming Indonesians and Filipinos for the largest proportion of crimes committed by foreigners in the first three months of this year. Recently, however, the Malaysian police chief said less than two percent of the total crimes committed in the country in 2006 were perpetrated by foreign workers, including Indonesians.

Indonesians, on the other hand, have had just about enough of the abusive ways of the supposed "Ugly Malaysian". These stories are epitomized by that of maid Nirmala Bonat, who said she was burned and beaten on a regular basis by her employer. The case shocked Malaysians and Indonesians alike.

The controversies surrounding Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, including the denial of rightful wages by Malaysian employers, alleged victimization by police personnel and exploitation at the hands of their recruiters, have perhaps reached a boiling point in bilateral relations.

In a recent visit to Indonesia, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reassured both nations of their continuing long-standing relationship during both "good and bad times". Abdullah highlighted the fact that Malaysia was Indonesia's largest investor last year, with investments totaling $2.2 billion, and that two-way trade hit $5.9 billion last year.

Thus, silent diplomacy is now in motion. Malaysia and Indonesia are playing a tit-for-tat game over the treatment of Indonesia's pahlawan devisa (foreign exchange heroes), who collectively transmit some five billion ringgits a year back to Indonesia. Perhaps the failure of both sides to muster the political and bureaucratic will to lay out the red carpet for these Indonesian workers during Malaysia's two-decade rush for development has cost us our humanity.

The kinship that first attracted Indonesians to work in Malaysia has turned to prejudice and chauvinism, thus creating further enmity. The mechanisms, procedures and policies that were put in place to regulate these Indonesian migrant workers were grossly inadequate and at times self-defeating.

The complexities and legal loopholes that are axiomatic of bureaucracy arose not through poor design but through a failure to contemplate the issues carefully, as well as inadequate enforcement of government policies. Both Indonesian officials and Malaysian officials are guilty of this dereliction of duty.

Maids aren't the only ones who suffer. Indonesian workers who toil in construction sites doing back-breaking labor are generally treated with disdain by the Malaysian public. They are particularly blamed for the increase in serious crimes such as murders, rapes and armed robberies over the past decade.

The Malaysian public has long passed their judgment on these so called hardened individuals on account of their less fortunate backgrounds. The fact is that while there are Indonesian workers who commit crimes, there are also many who are hard-working and law-abiding; they are cognizant of the fact that they are among the weakest in society.

Incidences of rioting such as at the Nilai factory in Seremban and isolated sensational cases involving Indonesian workers cast a long shadow over all Indonesian migrants. After all, blame must be placed somewhere.

A Finance Ministry Economic report states that Malaysia is now hopeful of reducing its huge migrant workforce to less than 1.5 million people by the year 2010. It is estimated that by the year 2010, only 250,000 foreign workers will remain in the manufacturing sector, and another 200,000 in the construction sector.

Efforts are being concentrated on reducing the dependence on foreign workers through automation and the mechanization of labor-intensive industries. So, in the end, the fate of those migrant heroes who still make the perilous journey to Malaysia will be determined by the very modernity which Indonesian migrant workers have played a significant role in helping Malaysia attain.

The writer is a Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer. He can be contacted at imran.yacob@gmail.com

This post has been edited by firdausj: May 25 2007, 11:48 PM

[Betong]

^No offence, but like Malaysian Minister said, Indonesian only sending third class maid to Malaysia who eventually will run with their boyfriend when they fed-up with their job. We have too much problem with our "pendatang asing" but one that I agree with you that the wage for the job was totally low and that why we have to imported aliens to do that job

[firdausj]

Perdagangan Manusia
Malaysia "Biarkan" Perbudakan

Kompas; 15 Juni 2007

Malaysia adalah salah satu negara yang terburuk soal perlakuan terhadap pekerja imigran. Negara jiran ini juga masuk ke dalam daftar negara yang paling buruk reputasinya dalam menangani perdagangan manusia. Pekerja Indonesia pun tak luput dari perlakuan buruk itu.

Hal itu menjadi salah satu kesimpulan dari laporan tahunan Departemen Luar Negeri Amerika Serikat yang disampaikan Menteri Luar Negeri AS Condoleezza Rice, Selasa (12/6) di Washington. Deplu AS meluncurkan laporan tahunan berjudul Trafficking in Persons.

Wahyu Susilo, analis kebijakan dari Migrant Care, Kamis (14/6), kepada Kompas menuduh Malaysia memang jahat, termasuk sangat jahat kepada pekerja imigran dari Indonesia. Laporan dari Migrant Care juga diadopsi Deplu AS dan menjadi sebagian isi dari laporan tersebut.

Malaysia, kata Wahyu, mengabaikan perlindungan terhadap pekerja asing, termasuk para wanita Indonesia. Di Malaysia, ada peraturan soal anti kekerasan. "Namun terhadap pekerja asing, termasuk pekerja yang tidak punya dokumen lengkap, Malaysia itu tak memberi perhatian apalagi perlindungan," kata Wahyu.

Ironisnya, kata Wahyu, Malaysia tidak menindak para majikan di Malaysia yang dalam kenyataannya adalah pihak yang membutuhkan dan menggunakan para pekerja asing, termasuk dari Indonesia. "Jadi jika Malaysia disimpulkan sebagai negara yang jahat terhadap pekerja asing, simpulkan saja demikian," kata Wahyu.

Jika kita meluangkan waktu sedikit membaca laporan itu, perlakuan Malaysia tidak saja buruk soal pekerja imigran. Simak bagian dari petikan laporan Deplu AS itu.

Sebagai transit

Malaysia dijuluki sebagai negara yang gagal menunjukkan kemajuan yang memuaskan dalam hal penghukuman terhadap agen yang menyelundupkan manusia. Malaysia juga dituduh gagal memberi perlindungan memadai, tak memberi layanan sosial terhadap para korban perdagangan manusia, tidak melindungi pekerja imigran dari perbuatan semena-mena.

"Pemerintah Malaysia harus memperlihatkan keinginan politik yang kuat untuk mengatasi... persoalan kerja paksa dan juga perdagangan manusia untuk industri seks," demikian antara lain isi laporan Deplu AS tersebut.

Disebutkan pula, di Malaysia ada banyak korban wanita yang terjebak menjadi pekerja seks yang bukan merupakan kehendak para wanita itu. Wanita korban itu pada umumnya dari Indonesia, Thailand, Filipina, Kamboja, Myanmar, dan China.

Bukan itu saja, Deplu AS juga menyebutkan Malaysia bukan saja sebagai tujuan akhir dari perdagangan manusia, tetapi sekaligus juga sebagai transit.

Tak menerima

Ketua Komisi HAM Malaysia (Suhakam) N Siva Subramaniam, Rabu (13/6), mengatakan, tuduhan Deplu AS itu tidak dapat diterima.

Ia berang dengan kesimpulan Deplu AS yang memasukkan Malaysia ke dalam kelompok "Tier 3" soal perdagangan manusia. Kelompok "Tier 3" adalah julukan bagi negara "yang tidak memiliki standar minimum untuk memerangi perdagangan manusia dan juga tidak melakukan upaya berarti untuk mencegah perdagangan manusia".

Deplu AS itu mengatakan, apa pun persoalan yang terjadi di balik perdagangan manusia, "tak ada orang yang berada dalam posisi sebagai tuan dan tak ada orang yang pantas dalam posisi sebagai budak", apalagi di zaman modern ini.

"Saya setuju masih banyak hal yang harus dilakukan... tetapi menempatkan Malaysia di ’Tier 3’ sungguh tidak pas. Mereka seharusnya melihat kemajuan yang kita lakukan," kata Subramaniam.

16 negara

Dengan status Malaysia yang masuk dalam kelompok "Tier 3", maka AS berhak mengenakan sanksi ekonomi. Bersama Malaysia, negara yang juga masuk kelompok itu adalah Aljazair, Bahrain, Kuba, Guinea Ekuatorial, Iran, Kuwait, Myanmar, Korea Utara, Oman, Qatar, Arab Saudi, Sudan, Suriah, Uzbekistan, dan Venezuela.

Ini adalah kelompok negara yang secara langsung atau tidak langsung mendorong perbudakan di zaman modern.

Negara ini adalah yang terburuk penanganannya soal perdagangan manusia sekitar 800.000 orang, di mana 80 persen dari jumlah itu adalah perempuan. Setengah dari jumlah itu adalah anak-anak.

Mereka menyeberangi perbatasan untuk diperdagangkan ke industri seks atau dipekerjakan secara paksa dan berada pada posisi sebagai pekerja yang tak memiliki tempat untuk mencari perlindungan.

Manusia yang diperdagangkan itu pada umumnya berasal dari keluarga miskin dari Eropa Timur, Asia Selatan, dan Asia Tenggara. Walau mereka adalah anak manusia, mereka telah dijadikan seperti komoditas yang diperjualbelikan.

"Kita berharap laporan ini mendorong berbagai negara di dunia untuk berbicara dalam satu bahasa dan memproklamirkan bahwa kebebasan dan pengamanan pada pergerakan manusia adalah satu hal yang tidak boleh ditunda lagi," demikian isi laporan itu.

Apakah Indonesia mendengarnya? Menurut Wahyu, Indonesia lemah juga dalam diplomasi untuk perlindungan. "Bahkan kami dianggap sebagai biang keributan," kata Wahyu. (REUTERS/AP/AFP/MON)

Now, I can understand why our gov't did not recommend our people to go to malaysia ....

This post has been edited by firdausj: Jun 15 2007, 04:15 AM

[swingdoctor]

We have an Indonesian maid looking after my grandmother an I thnk she's very good.

[ricochet]

We have an Indonesian maid looking after my grandmother an I thnk she's very good.

How do we treat illegal immigrants in Malaysia or Singapore. If they have dun have proper documentation, we deport them back to their home country. Some of being jailed before they are sent back. The Malaysian govt as far as I can recall had made a reforandum to all illegals many years ago to register themselves, but many chose not to do it. When 1 year was lapsed, the authorities had a operation in search for these people and a lot had been dragged out from their nest and deported back to indonesia.

To say they are cruel....I think we have to look at the 2 sides of the coin. Some illegals are also to be blame for the criminal activities that had been uprising since. While SG remains a country so effectively managed to control this problem, MY by large is a bigger country as there is no way that we can control the influx of illegal immigrants. A lot of farms or industries are welcoming these immigrants for cheap labour and the authorities can control so perfectly of all activities

I think we welcome those immigrants who comes to our country with proper documentation. For those who feel indifferent about our country, dun come lor....stay in your country then

[Protoculture]

I welcomed immigrants with proper documentation to come to earn honest-to-goodness livelihood. But certainly not the illegal variety.

It is the illegal immigrants that always ends up in trouble, either with the law or local Malaysians. We've been very patient in putting up their shenanigans, but enough is enough.

Msia should toughen up immigration laws, & have more effective border control actions to stem the ever increasing illegals that makes their way to our borders, especially in East Malaysia. Look at Sabah, where illegals almost outnumber the local population & will certainly become thorn in the flesh to local Sabahans, in the long run it will jeopardised state security & social stability.

[swingdoctor]

Proto and Rico, I dunno, according to the article above less then 2% of crimes in Malaysia are committed by foreign workers. Personally I'm against illegal immigrants but I also feel for these workers as they are usually quite desperate. We have had 2 excellent maids, including the one currently. Having said that, irrespective of where maids come from, they still need to be treated properly. I have seen examples of abuse in both Malaysia dn Singapore.

[danny94]

Please dont ever BRING IN MAID FROM CHINA. They will destroy family and distribute HIV among the Chinese. Do you know that Chinese have the highest HIV rate in Malaysia? All because of those thing from China imported by Chinese organize crime.

[theng]

Please dont ever BRING IN MAID FROM CHINA. They will destroy family and distribute HIV among the Chinese. Do you know that Chinese have the highest HIV rate in Malaysia? All because of those thing from China imported by Chinese organize crime.

Get your fact right !!! If I am not mistaken it's Malays that have the highest rate of HIV due to their bigger population.There was even one thread about it in M'sia Chat.

[danny94]

Sorry I was wrong, I mean in Sarawak. All because of China whore.

[theng]

Well I disagree to bring in maids from China either.Those women from Mainland Ppl should stop being too dependant on maids.

This post has been edited by theng: Jul 9 2007, 10:18 AM

[danny94]

One day, China will have a serious problem because there is no more female. All became have choose this kind of career.

[theng]

U can't be serious with that comment right?

Those whores are not only be found in Sarawak but also in West M'sia.(referred to your post 13)

This post has been edited by theng: Jul 9 2007, 10:25 AM

[danny94]

Im serious with that comment about China. In the long run, China will fall because of its people, the government is doing a fine job, just that you know Chinese... Not united... love to earn easy money... and blabla.

I dont know about west malaysia, because Im from Sarawak and I know how they run things here. Night club everything, as long is illegal is run by Chinese gangster. They're the one who responsible for this.

[theng]

Those women from Mainland Blah they will come here to work as maids first then work hard to seduce the male employers,ruin marriages,steal our men...One word HU LI JIN

of course not all of them are like that I know that I know Not that we Malaysian girls have no confidence in ourselves and our men,but men

[wongfeehung]

Little Dragon Ladies......are not the problem, it's the corrupt Malaysian society that is the problem

[jokotarub]

^No offence, but like Malaysian Minister said, Indonesian only sending third class maid to Malaysia who eventually will run with their boyfriend when they fed-up with their job. We have too much problem with our "pendatang asing" but one that I agree with you that the wage for the job was totally low and that why we have to imported aliens to do that job

Well, with that third class wages, what could be expected?

We've been very patient in putting up their shenanigans, but enough is enough.

Msia should toughen up immigration laws, & have more effective border control actions to stem the ever increasing illegals that makes their way to our borders, especially in East Malaysia. Look at Sabah, where illegals almost outnumber the local population & will certainly become thorn in the flesh to local Sabahans, in the long run it will jeopardised state security & social stability.

I'd say we're the one who've been very patient.

Sure, toughen up your immigration laws: act immediately on that section 55 or something that fines thousands of RM to employers of up to 5 illegals, and hands additional prison terms to those employing more than 5. I'd suggest to even raise the sentences; even if no one man Msia border posts no illegals would dare come. So far that article only serves as decoration to the book, which is the only way there could be hundreds of illegal migrant workers rounded up every week but not a single mention of their employers. How come anyone still wonder why illegals are still around when obviously there are still people who pay those illegal to work? And bringing Sabah to the convo only serves to confirm that point: who enticed them to come without proper documentation and even gave them ICs after they arrived, anyway?

What's more, what about those illegal employment agents? Weren't you in Sarawak, Proto? You know what it's like here, then. How come nobody act against them? A friend of mine came across a maid, failing medical test for factory workers because of TB, was supplied by her agent (illegal one, without any supplying license), a Malaysian, to a Malaysian household. It's good the employer turned out to be abusive (the maid ended up in hospital after several of her ribs broken in the process of running away) --can't imagine a kind family contacted TB because of the agent's greed. At the time the hospital reported that to the immigration and police, but no action taken against that illegal agent. Now I think maybe they'd better make report to that consumer protection agency or something instead.
Still on that note, I wonder who here can mention the license number of the agent that supplied their maid to them?