Foreign maids coming to Malaysia would soon be given an information booklet listing out their rights and a list of contact numbers and addresses in case of an emergency or abuse.Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the booklet would tell the maids of their rights, including a day off a week they are entitled to, and who to contact if they are abused.
What if they are illiterate?"That is why we have requested for the Indonesian government to send maids with some minimum education qualifications and proper training."
On a day off each week for maids, Dr Subramaniam said his officers would conduct random checks when the Employment Act 1955 is amended to provide for this.On whether they had enough officers to conduct the checks, Dr Subramaniam said: "We have more than 80 offices in the country and we can extend our team of officers to conduct these checks."The maids were in the limelight when the Indonesian government on June 26 announced the ban on maids from being sent to Malaysia.This was in response to public anger over the ill-treatment of Indonesian maid Siti Hajar Sadli, 33, in Malaysia. Her employer has since been arrested and charged in court.There are 1.2 million Indonesians working in Malaysia of whom 300,000 are maids.Several quarters, including the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) and the Bar Council have asked for maids to be allowed to form associations to protect their rights.MTUC secretary-general G. Rajasekaran said they had applied to help maids set up an association two years ago but it was rejected by the Registrar of Societies."Maid agencies are recruiters who are only interested in making money and yet the government allows them to set up an association, whereas the workers who need it are not allowed to do so."Tenaganita director Florida Sandanasamy said, "Statistics show that when workers are unionised, their productivity levels increase which in turn benefits the employers."Human resource consultant Alfred Charles said that the association looking after maids should have elected office-bearers from among members who come from maid agencies as well as non-governmental organisations."Grievances should be aired through the association. If the agents are abusive, there should be a right of referral to the Labour Department."Malaysian Bar president Ragunath Kesavan said it was important and timely for maids to be allowed to form their own associations to have an avenue to highlight their rights and concerns.Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (PAPA) vice-president Jeffrey Foo when contacted said: "Talks between the ministries of Malaysia and Indonesia are going on now. We have given all our input and we are waiting to see the outcome."I am not interested in commenting on suggestions from other parties."Will maids also enjoy Employees Provident Funds (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso) benefits with the amendment to the Employment Act?"No," said Dr Subramaniam."They will, however, be protected under the Workmen's Compensation Act to allow them the same kind of protection they would be accorded under Socso."On having a joint coordinating bodys, Dr Subramaniam said there is already a joint working group between Malaysia and Indonesia on Indonesian foreign workers in the country.What the Indonesian government was suggesting, he said, was a separate coordinating committee for maids.This, he said, would be discussed at their next meeting later this week.Rajasekaran said the Malaysian and Indonesian governments should come to an agreement to cut down the cost of middlemen."The whole cost should be only about RM3,000 (S$1,299), instead of the RM7,000 to RM8,000 at present."If the maximum cost of airfare is about RM500, it leaves a balance of RM2,500 to be shared between the Indonesian agent and the Malaysian agent."Dr Subramaniam said Malaysia had already proposed a fixed rate by Indonesian agencies and Jakarta had agreed to consider the matter as the present fees were considered exorbitant."The Indonesian government is considering this. We have only one layer of middlemen here but there are multiple layers in Indonesia." -NST
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