Muslim maids from Mindanao option for Muslim employers
2010/02/03
KUALA LUMPUR: With the ongoing freeze on the supply of Indonesian maids, Malaysians can now opt for Muslim maids from Mindanao, the Philippines.
This will be made possible with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here today between the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) authority and a group of 20 foreign maid agencies from Malaysia (G20). G20 chairman Datuk Raja Zulkeply Dahalan said the cooperation would enable them to supply quality housemaids with a reasonable fee to meet the demand for Muslim maids from Muslim employers. "Besides Indonesia, we are also facing difficulty in getting Muslim housemaids from countries such as Cambodia," he told reporters after the signing of the MoU. Meanwhile, ARMM Department of Labour and Employment Secretary Myra Mangkabung Alih said the programme would help many families in the region to reduce poverty.
"According to the 2006 statistics, 55 out of 100 families in Mindanao are poor and the number is increasing every year. Through this programme, we hope to provide employment and better income to more people." She said 6,000 well-trained maids could be deployed to Malaysia each year, adding that recruiting would begin at the end of March and both parties were still negotiating on a suitable standard salary RM 500 - RM 600.