A review badly needed
ALTHOUGH the Indonesian government’s decision last week to temporarily stop sending domestic workers to this country will cause significant discomfort to potential employers, the moratorium provides an excellent opportunity for Malaysian regulators to review their stance towards Indonesian maids.According to news reports, there are 300,000 Indonesian maids in this country. Indonesia’s Manpower and Transmigration Ministry says 3,000 Indonesians leave the country every month to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia. This underscores the number of households in this country affected by Jakarta’s decision. Leaving aside the suggestion that Malaysians are becoming far too dependent on foreign maids, three issues need to be addressed. First is the huge discrepancy in wages paid to Indonesian maids compared with that for their Filipino counterparts. According to Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president, Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, Filipino maids in this country are paid RM1,000 compared with more than RM500 earned by Indonesian maids. What justification is there for paying a Filipino maid almost double that for an Indonesian? Is it because Filipinos can speak English and are more suitable for employment in non-Muslim households? I believe Filipino maids are also better paid because of Manila’s insistence on minimum wages and other conditions of work. Even so, does this justify paying an Indonesian about half that for a Filipino maid? If Filipino maids should enjoy a premium, I suggest this should be capped at a reasonable level – possibly 10% or 15%. Because wages for domestic workers from Indonesia and other countries like Bangladesh are so low, even hawkers can afford to hire foreigners to man their stalls. Why should hawkers be allowed to employ foreign domestic workers? Not surprisingly, this has led to a worsening quality of char kway teow, chicken rice and other hawker food.Furthermore, low wages could cause Malaysian employers to under-value their foreign domestic workers and in extreme cases, this may lead to severe abuse of foreign maids. Malaysian policymakers should consider this: why is it that almost all cases of appalling abuse involve Indonesian maids? Another point to note is the growing number of Indonesians venturing further to work as maids. In Hongkong, Indonesian maids enjoy monthly salaries of HK$3,000 (RM1,500) or more – about three times that in Malaysia. Some Indonesian maids that I have met in the territory speak impeccable Cantonese. This suggests language and other cultural differences are not a major stumbling block for determined Indonesians. Second is the Malaysian government’s proposal to make it mandatory for employers to allow foreign maids a day off. This move is long overdue. Some Malaysians have written to the press to highlight their concern that if Indonesian maids were allowed a day off, they could mix with undesirable company, form undesirable relationships, indulge in unhealthy activities, become dissatisfied with their employers and run away. Again the comparison is with Filipino maids. Although Filipino maids are given a mandatory day off every week, why hasn’t this prompted them to become dissatisfied with their employers and run away in large numbers? Some may argue because there are more than 1.2 million Indonesians legally in this country (and possibly another 800,000 here illegally), allowing Indonesian maids a day off poses additional risks compared to those from other countries.
If so, policymakers should consider sourcing of maids from other countries like China. Wanita MCA has strongly urged Putrajaya not to allow women from China to work as maids in this country because they could break up families by seducing husbands. The Wanita MCA’s suggestion is untenable. If some Malaysian Chinese women are insecure about the fidelity of their husbands, they aren’t compelled to hire maids from China. Why should these women be allowed to deny other Malaysians the opportunity to employ mainland Chinese as maids? Third is the issue of greater legal protection for foreign domestic workers. As Caram Asia, a regional network representing non-governmental organisations, has pointed out, because maids are defined as “servants” under the Employment Act, they are denied all statutory benefits except the right to sue for unpaid wages.I believe changing the legal status of domestic helpers could encourage an improvement in mindset. Instead of regarding their foreign maids as servants, employers would be encouraged to treat them as employees. Employers must be made to realise that unless working conditions are improved significantly and immediately, Malaysia will quickly become the destination of last resort, not only for Indonesians but also for Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Cambodians and all those in the region who seek to improve their economic prospects.