YESTERDAY, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan announced that he would be joining Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s entourage to the US to attend the US-ASEAN Special Summit from May 10 until 13.
In a statement issued by the Human Resources Ministry (MOHR), they detailed on what Saravanan’s agenda would be in his official trip to the US, which includes the minister telling the US on measures taken by Malaysia to address forced labour issues.
“As such, I am scheduled to meet with relevant Departments in the US, namely the US Department of Labour and US Customs and Border Protection (US-CBP), including a session with the Responsible Business Alliance.
“I will also share Malaysia’s good practices in addressing forced labour and explore opportunities for bilateral cooperation with the US Government as part of the effort to ensure Malaysian companies and products are free from forced labour practices in their supply chains,” the Tapah MP had stated.
To show how committed he is to make the trip worthwhile, Saravanan even posted picture of himself all dressed up at the airport.
Before I get to the reason why this commentary is being written, though I’m not a fashion expert, I would highly recommend for Saravanan to get someone with better ideas when it comes to getting a proper attire before leaving for a trip.
This “mostly-yellow” photo may trigger “naughty” graphic designers to create hilarious memes over serious business!
Back to the commentary, firstly, I must commend Saravanan for doing his best to address forced labour issues affecting the country. In my view, he is definitely more effective than his lacklustre immediate predecessor.
Saravanan’s first good deed was to acknowledge that Malaysia did have forced labour problems and even joined several raids conducted by the Labour Department (JTK) on several companies.
He even dared to turn against several glovemakers such as Brightway Holdings, when the latter denied they were engaged in forced labour practises after migrant workers were found living in squalid conditions in metal shipping containers.
“Let them say what they want to say. We have enough evidence to enforce the rule of law. It is common for any employer to deny it, that will (only) force us to publish more pictures of the condition,” The Star reported Saravanan as saying in December 2020.
However, that is as far as I can go in praising Saravanan as the Human Resources Minister.
The thing is, forced labour issue has been prevalent in Malaysia for decades now. Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Tenaganita and North South Initiative have made countless reports on the plight of our migrant workers but little was done to address the problem.
It is just that COVID-19 had exposed our fault lines for the world to see and in turn, highly embarrassed Malaysia at the same time.
The Government can say what it wants about how it cares about our migrant workers but in reality, it was the US-CBP action in blocking our goods from entering North America, accused of being manufactured using forced labour, that prompted our “feet-dragging” Government to wake up from their slumber.
Now, did Malaysia take enough measures to curb abuses against migrant workers? Not really. In fact, Putrajaya is also doing little to protect the local workforce itself.
First of all, why didn’t the Government include migrant workers under the protection of Employment Act? Wouldn’t a simple yet effective amendment to the said legislation provide the much-needed reprieve all our workforce needed?
How many errant employers charged?
Let’s not even get started with the memorandum of understanding signed between the Malaysian and Bangladeshi Governments.
Much of its contents are shrouded in secrecy but those in the know have argued against the proposal to appoint 25 Bangladeshi recruitment agents and their 10 sub-agents to manage recruitment of Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia.
Wouldn’t it be easier for all, including the Government, to just allow the MOHR itself to recruit migrant workers instead of letting the Home Ministry to do so?
If such matters were left to the MOHR to handle, companies that need migrant workforce could just move an application with the ministry so that the former could handle it as they have the statistics on which sectors are in dire need of migrant workforce.
And pray tell, why do we keep leaving out domestic helpers from such protection as well? While it is laudable that they are now covered under the minimum wage policy but much needed to be done to ensure their rights are respected such as by having proper working hours and one-day leave per week.
As of now, many domestic workers are still working from morning to wee hours of the night, with no rest days given which rightfully prompted retaliation from the Indonesian government.
Before I end my piece, perhaps Saravanan could tell us how many unscrupulous employers has been charged in court for abusing their migrant worker?
I recall a case in February where a “Tan Sri” was accused of not paying his maid for 12 years and even abused her.
While it was reported that the so-called prominent individual had paid her wages, why wasn’t he charged in court for abuse?
So Mr Minister, while it is good that you are making an effort to explain forced labour situation to your US counterparts, perhaps it is best for our authorities to put their money where their mouths are and take action against these employers first for their transgressions.
And if we take the right actions to remedy forced labour situation by taking a no-nonsense approach, perhaps we can save taxpayers’ money by not making trips to other countries just so we can explain ourselves to them. – May 8, 2022
