Dilemma of a bloated foreign workforce
Together, the registered and unregistered foreign workers have formed the third largest community in this country at around 19% of the total population.
Pook Ah Lek, The Star
NO ONE can tell for sure how many migrant workers there are in this country. Even the authorities and individual officials offer their own numbers, not so much because they have something to hide from the public but simply because no one knows exactly how many.
According to the Human Resources Ministry, there are some 2.1 million registered migrant workers – legal foreign workers – in Malaysia. However, the number of overstaying illegal foreigners is even larger, around three million.
The Malaysian Employers Federation’s (MEF) estimate is even more alarming, putting the total number of legal and illegal foreign workers at six million!
Datuk Low Kian Chuan, secretary-general of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM), seems to echo MEF’s hypothesis, arguing that the ratio of legal to illegal foreign workers in the country now stands at 1:2
Experts warn that the issue of foreign workers here is akin to a time bomb waiting to be detonated. But many of our economic sectors are too dependent on them.
When the Government froze the importation of new foreign workers, some local furniture factories had to wind up owing to the labour crunch. And when a domestic helper runs away, the lady employer may have to take leave to do the house chores and take care of her little ones.
The raids carried out by the Immigration Department against unregistered foreign workers have left many construction sites shorthanded and plantations virtually unattended to.
It has been stipulated under the 11th Malaysian Plan that the ratio of foreigners in the country’s labour market must not exceed 15% or 2.1 million. But thanks to the illegal foreign workers, the ratio would have reached a jaw-dropping 43%, far beyond what the labour market actually requires.
These foreign workers have hailed from a number of neighbouring countries, hired mainly in the construction, manufacturing, agricultural and services sectors or as domestic helpers.
Together, the registered and unregistered foreign workers have formed the third largest community in this country at around 19% of the total population. With only 2.22 million people, the Indian community has long been displaced from the top three to become the fourth largest community here.
On Feb 18 this year, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladeshi government for an additional 1.5 million workers over the next three years. This decision has since met with powerful objection from the Malaysian public.
MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said the Government should refrain from bringing in more foreign workers given the current sluggish economy. Moreover, the influx of 1.5 million Bangladeshis will send the strength of foreign workforce to a staggering 7.5 million, far outstripping the needs of the local market.
If this were to materialise, their sheer number would overtake that of Chinese Malaysians, currently the second largest ethnic group in the country.
More recently, the Government also announced that the private sector can hire security personnel from two other yet-to-be-decided countries, in addition to Nepal.
Our streets are now filled to the brim with migrant workers. Some public transport means such as buses have become a necessity for foreign workers travelling from a place to another.
Why have so many foreigners flocked to Malaysia for a living and why do they later decide not to leave this country? Malaysia is endowed with a wealth of natural resources and no major natural disasters.
And Malaysia is a land of plenty. Another pull factor is that Islam is the official religion and Muslims constitute the dominant community here, making the country a veritable paradise for Indonesians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Cambodians and Rohingyas.
Malaysian employers’ dependence on foreign workers has reached a stage where a total weaning from foreign help is squarely impossible. Foreign workers are inexpensive, hardworking and will not resist 3D (Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult) jobs which locals instantly shun.
Even the hawkers are now hiring foreigners who, after some time, will take over the kitchen as well. After picking up some basic culinary skills, these foreigners will then set up their own stalls. Behind Berjaya Times Square in the city’s Golden Triangle, sundry shops run by foreigners are now vying for a piece of the grocery market vis-à-vis local businesses.
Additionally, some of those coming here to become domestic helpers have found new prospects in the city’s hair salons or as part-time maids, earning more. Others who came as construction workers now become self-employed peddlers.
Some Indonesians even bring over their families here after settling down while others find their better halves here and decide to make Malaysia their new home.
Many good-looking Bangladeshi men, in the meantime, marry local women and are subsequently granted resident status.
We cannot deny the positive contributions of these workers to the country’s economy, but the question is whether the unpredictable Government policies have made it very difficult for employers to map out their long-term hiring policies. This, coupled with lax enforcement and the absence of an effective mechanism to manage migrant workers, has resulted in millions of foreigners outstaying their employment contracts.
To better control the number of foreign workers in the country, the Immigration Department will, from next month, take action against employers hiring unregistered foreign workers, seizing or freezing their bank accounts and assets.
Under the new measure, employers found hiring or sheltering overstayers or holders of counterfeit visas and passports will have their bank accounts and assets seized or frozen.
To be completely self-reliant is a tall tale. Good luck, folks!
Pook Ah Lek is Editorial Director with Sin Chew Daily. The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.
