https://www.facebook.com/themalaysianinsider/posts/10153567106804633
Seeing the news of us, Malaysia wanting to bring in another 1.5 Million Bangladeshi workers, I am worried.
Having the chance to walk around KL city, and also around Penang, my question is are we overly dependent on these foreign workers?
Even if there is the demand from FMM or whoever they are, are they justifiable? Or just because all employers wanted to cut cost, and wanting to enjoy lower salary cost with these foreign labours?
Just walking around the cities around Malaysia, you can see they are everywhere, in restaurants, in shops, and some even have their own shops, and I have seen some selling watches and flowers around the streets in Kuala Lumpur? Are they doing their own business, and why is it so easy for them to do so? I am not sure?
I have seen in passer madam (nite markets), where the "employers" just sit or sometimes not around, and Indonesian selling noodles and manning the stall for them. In Sungai Wang Plaza, I have seen a lot of them manning the small stores or outlets there. Why aren't our people doing this, as I understood a lot of our youth and young graduates are without jobs?
But my key points are:
1) can we manage these foreign workers well, well in the sense of being fair to them, and fair to Malaysians in general?
2) Can we control the big numbers of them coming in, knowing there are a lot of cultural differences
3) Are we able to make sure they follow the rules and regulations of the country?
4) When can we become a more developed country if we keep on over-dependent on these so called "cheap labourers" who are getting more and more expensive,
5) And what happen to jobs supposed to be given to our people, who are demanding a better package, as we have to pay higher taxes, and with current living cost level, it is hard to really work with lower salary being offered being local employers.....who in general are taking advantage of this situation...
6) Are we not able to learn from some developed countries, Singapore, Japan or Taiwan for examples....though they have some imported labourers, but not this our extent....what are they key success factors here, are we able to get something from here.
7) Have we conducted studies, on what industry really needs these labourers,... and why....?
8) Are all demands for these labourers genuine in the sense that, they cannot get local people to fill up the vacancies?
9) How do we make sure that the imported labourers and workers stay and work here legally, following the terms and conditions of the contract, and leave when the contract is due or expiring and not building their own teams and "businesses" in illegal ways...
10) Most importantly, are we able to monitors all their activities and also make sure these workers welfare are taken off, considering the resources and capabilities of various departments in the country.....
Just wondering.. I hope Malaysia will be better for sure, but personally, I think without studying properly and bringing in these 1.5 Million workers will bring us more problems than what we can manage, for the time being, meaning the cons might be more than the pros. Hopefully, we will have a good outcome from these, and I keep my fingers crossed.
Choong
Kuala Lumpur
14th Feb 2016
