Letter to Editor
By Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah
THE Malaysian employment have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the ‘official’ figures of those having lost employment is around 800,000 but many believe the real figure is much higher.
The younger generations are amongst the hardest hit as being junior they are the first to be retrenched and the new job seekers cannot find any jobs. That is the sad tragic case of the youth today.
In recent weeks, foreign workers received wide attention in media following protest in Bangladesh against alleged mistreatment and mismanagement of foreign workers under the Foreign Workers Management System (FWCMS) by Bestinet Sdn Bhd.
This is followed by calls to halt the influx of foreign workers against the background of COVID-19 pandemic and its direct impact on our economy, businesses and unemployment. With our current sad local employment situation, the foreign workers should not be allowed or even considered.
In this context, one of the issues that should be deliberated in the cabinet meeting by the Minister of Home Affairs (KDN) is the issue of foreign workers and its management especially in view of the FWCMS system implementation.
Meanwhile, Malaysia remains one of the countries in the region with high reliance on low- skilled foreign labour force with direct impact on key macroeconomic costs and social national Interest. This includes promoting low-skilled job creation, deterring productivity enhancement and upskilling of local workforce and depresses overall pay.
There are also issues of outflow of funds and illegal immigrants who evade proper channels to avoid the high cost involved. Foreign workers today comprise 15% of Malaysian workforce although many believe it to be much higher.
At stake is also Malaysia’s reputation as complaints of mistreatment of foreign workers and overall foreign workers management which is now under international scrutiny. According to Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan, 91.1% of 1.6 million foreign workers in the country or 1.4 million are provided with accommodation that does not comply with provisions under the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 or Act 446.
It has also come to light that there is an increase of unemployed persons with more than 800,000 losing jobs creating concerns as to how much higher the unemployment rate is expected to rise with a prolonged movement control order (MCO) and how to avoid a severe impact on the national economy which will affect people’s livelihood.
Amid this background, Minister of Human Resources was reported to be in discussions with his counterpart in Bangladesh to open borders to allow in foreign workers to Malaysia. This is unacceptable and even unthinkable.
Taking all the above into consideration, it is important to halt new incoming foreign workers until a comprehensive study is conducted on Labour redeployment strategy post COVID-19 pandemic. Added to this, there should be an investigation into the FWCMS, which came under so many criticisms since its introduction as a proof of concept project in 2015 under KDN.
Objective
The objective of this article is to highlight the issues related to foreign workers and its impact to the country should it be debated in parliament so that the Cabinet can defer any decisions with regards to foreign workers subject to a detailed study to be undertaken.
That is why the functioning of the Parliament is crucial in this critical period.
Issues at hand
- Unprecedented economic implication and uncertainty due to COVID-19 pandemic. Cautious attitude amongst private sectors delaying much needed investment and capital expenditure. Instead, they focus on capital preservation and austerity drive measures.
- According to a news report, a total of 2,713 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia closed down between March and October 2020, during which the MCO was implemented in various phases to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Over time the implication will be huge on local working adults in Malaysia with limited job opportunities;
- Job opportunities will be hugely affected post COVID-19 as a result of business closures. We have seen some big-name multinational companies (MNCs) leaving our shores and big corporations implementing rationalization exercise;
- Malaysia’s unemployment rate rose 4.5% in 2020, the highest rate recorded since 1993, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM);
- DOSM also stated that the number of unemployed individuals in December 2020 also rose for the annual comparison, rising 1.6% to 772,900 individuals or at a rate of 4.8% in December; and
- According to Malaysian Employers Federation “Every year, 500,000 Malaysians enter the job market, which means next year, there will be at least one million jobseekers from this year and 2021.
Foreign workers in Malaysia’s domestic labour market
According to Jarud Romadan of Khazanah Research Institute, Malaysia is home to around 2 million documented migrant workers, comprising around 15% of the total workforce.
In addition, World Bank estimates that there are about 3.3 million undocumented foreign labourers in our country, mainly concentrated in the manufacturing sector (36%), followed by construction (19%) and plantation (15%) sectors.
Combining both figures, in total of 5.3 million jobs are filled by foreign workers across sectors.
Similarly, thousands of foreign workers have lost their jobs and according to the International Labour Organization there were cases of migrant workers being unfairly terminated or not getting paid when Malaysia’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown was first imposed in March, reported by CNBC in November. This situation is expected to get worse if the vaccination roll-out plan faces any delay.
Apart from that, international news broadcaster Al-Jazeera aired a documentary on July last year depicting Malaysia’s treatment of undocumented workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This has led to public backlash against Al-Jazeera and its journalists as many angry netizens said the allegations of racism and discrimination against undocumented migrants in Malaysia were untrue.
Four months down the road, Malaysia’s treatment of migrant workers made headlines again, this time involving documented migrant workers.
Recommendation
Due to the current pandemic and economic downturn, there is already an excess of both documented and undocumented foreign workers in Malaysia.
Hence, to consider bringing more foreign workers into the country (via FWCMS) in this current economic situation is perplexing as the focus should be on reviving the economy, addressing unemployment issues and job creation for Malaysians.
There needs to be a proper study into addressing the current issues relating to on-soil foreign workers, and to question whether bringing in more foreign workers would aggravate more issues economically, socially and politically;
Why do we want to aggravate the situation and who is pushing for this?
Unprecedented unemployment rate post COVID-19 is expected among local workers. Similar fate is expected among foreign workers in job loss especially for those undocumented foreign workers. As a result, potential abuse and social issues may rise if no action is taken.
Possible allegations of human trafficking, money laundering, mental and physical abuse involving foreign workers would definitely mar Malaysia’s reputation in the international front. The nation which is known to be an all- embracing, foreign- national friendly country, and even protects and homes refugees, needs to be lasting image and not otherwise.
COVID-19 impact on local SMEs and businesses
Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and Micro businesses make up about 98.5% of businesses in Malaysia. The Prihatin Rakyat Stimulus Package (PRIHATIN), and the additional stimulus was seen as a good move to assist the flailing businesses in the nation, but they were only sufficient to aid the SMEs for a short term. The Government is still urged to come up with more sustainable forms of financial aid to ensure the longevity of the local businesses.
Reassess the labour policy
Foreign workers are an integral component of our labour market and its importance to Malaysia’s economy is undeniable. Nevertheless, it is important to strike the right balance between local and foreign workforce composition in ensuring a more sustainable labour policy to support our economy’s long- term growth.
It is also timely to reassess our labour policy thus allowing us to reset the play post COVID- 19 pandemic in light of:
- Providing more jobs to local workers, especially with more youth becoming available re-deploy existing foreign workers and legalise undocumented foreign workers.
- The Government should focus on conducting an extensive study on the current labour market in Malaysia in order to come to a decision on how best to move forward in relation to human resource management and its policy; No ad-hoc actions should be allowed.
- This study will require a combined effort from all government agencies to mainly manage existing human resource in the country and plan for the development of future human capital needs for a brighter future.
- This will include but not limited to up-skilling and re-skilling local workers and redeployment of foreign workers to relevant sectors.
- Once these have been identified, the planning of hiring new foreign workers will be more cost effective and will bring good impact to the economy as a whole.
This holistic and comprehensive study is very crucial to set the stage to intensify a more robust and quicker public health and economic recovery.
It is crucial the Government re-assess comprehensively the overall labour situation especially in the light of job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local citizens are struggling to survive and the youths are getting more marginalised and restless.
Not only is Parliament being suspended by the Government, it is also not acting in a pro-active and responsible manner in addressing the current labour situation. – March 12, 2021
Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah is a senator and the president of Parti Amanah Negara Negeri Terengganu.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
