Home Ministry under siege, mentally
By John Inbaraj, Aliran
In an earlier article which appeared under this section entitled “Something is rotten about migrant workers’ entry rules” (19 September 2011), I had quite openly implied that the government lacked the will to fight the undocumented workers problem in the country and that rampant corruption had blurred the vision of the authorities from within and without the country in creating a clean and safe environment for locals hiring foreign workers and for foreign workers themselves.
I had also called for the authorities to stop the flood of undocumented workers and to keep our shores safe from health-related and social problems and “undocumented” criminals roaming in our midst without fear.
It did not take long for all of the above to be reinforced in the media in the days that followed.
theSun (21 September) carried a front page article which shouted “Unapproved labour”! The Star and New Straits Times carried similar articles. The Home Minister revealed that 2320034 foreign workers were registered via the biometric system. Of these 1303120 were illegals (almost 50 per cent), some 327991 of whom were employed in mining, car workshops, fast food restaurant and food stalls and as fishermen and newspaper vendors. Some of these illegals are self-employed and some have become employers. These areas are not in the approved list of work for foreigners.
The saddest part of this whole episode is that Hishammuddin, whose Home Ministry was accorded No. 1 status for Key Performance Indicators (KPI) achievements, is quoted as saying “Even though the scenario is not new, it is difficult for the authorities to take action against them due to falsification of documents and identities and other abuses of work permits and passes.”
And mind you, he adds, “As such, the Home Ministry is considering suggestions by employers who have pleaded that special permission be given for the illegal workers in the non-approved sectors, to be included in the legalisation process.”
I am exasperated, breathless and completely lost. People who challenge conditions set by the Home Ministry, falsify documents, cheat, lie and abuse are granted a reprieve?
You even have fast food chains – “respected” and probably internationally recognised food outlets – employing illegal workers? And you condone that! Hey Minister, have you any respect for yourself? Doesn’t it anger you when foreigners and especially local employers don’t give a damn for your rules and regulations and what you say?
At this point let me digress a little and draw our readers attention to an incident that happened to a friend of mine some time back. This was over an sms informing him of a substantial cash winning. My friend, recognising that it was a scam originating from an Indonesian mobile number, called to threaten the sender with a police report but the response he got was “Report-lah! Malaysian punya polis semua bodoh-lah!”
As a Malaysian how did I feel? Anger yes, but at the same time wasn’t he right? Has this scourge now spread to the Home Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister too?
