SEGAMBUT MP Hannah Yeoh has urged Putrajaya to reopen the domestic helpers sector to ease the hardship faced by working families with young children.
According to the former deputy women, family and community development minister, many contracts for domestic helpers had ended during the COVID-19 pandemic period and employers were not able to find replacements as borders had shut and fees skyrocketed.
This has severely affected recruitment agencies for domestic helpers as they could not sustain their operations during the pandemic and as a result, many of these agencies were forced to shut down.
Furthermore, since the country had gone into multiple lockdowns since March 2020, many households had been struggling with changes to their usual routines due to the closure of schools and work from home standard operating procedures.
“Travel plans were halted and many young families struggled with managing online lessons for children, cooking and simultaneously managing Zoom meetings for work,” Yeoh pointed out.
Citing data from the Malaysian National Association of Employment Agencies, she further revealed that about 20,000 households were waiting for borders to reopen and for new domestic helpers to be allowed to enter the country.
“I urge the Federal Government to assist household employers with the re-opening of this sector swiftly and safely by allowing new domestic helpers to enter Malaysia subject to vaccination, testing and quarantine protocols,” she said in a statement.
She further urged the Government to resolve any outstanding memorandum of understanding (MoU) issues with sender countries and provide a fast-track application system to reduce the long waiting line of households waiting for new domestic helpers.
“This win-win approach will assist with levy collection or income for the Government and halt illegal supply or trafficking of domestic helpers,” she justified.
“We must do our utmost best to retain the already-low women participation in the workforce and not lose more of them due to the lack of support at home.” – Oct 29, 2021
