Modern day slavery at a birds’ nest factory in Klang

A good meal on their day off is a rare treat for four Indonesian girls who met reporters from Malaysiakini and Jakarta-based magazine Tempo over lunch on a Sunday last month.

The sweet sour tofu, bean sprouts, sausages and nuggets they ordered to share were perhaps the more familiar items from a menu which specialises in delicacies from Northern Peninsula Malaysia.

“I haven’t eaten since this morning,” said Sundari, not her real name. “The company does not provide breakfast on Sundays.”

She revealed that there were times their breakfast would only consist of white rice with tempe or vegetables, or even just rice and crackers. Lunch is not much different.

“The company provides lunch, but often there would not be enough for the 170-plus workers,” said Denok, Sundari’s friend. And for dinner, the workers would be on their own.

All four of them hail from Semarang, a northern port city on the island of Java, and now working at Maxim Birdnest Sdn Bhd based in Klang. Their main duty is to process the swiftlet nests into prized exports bound for China.

The company is owned by Albert Tei, a 29-year-old entrepreneur who also controls several manpower agencies, a carwash chain and laundromats.

He uploaded pictures of him in full regalia after receiving a datukship, and a picture next to Immigration director Mustafar Ali on his public Instagram account. The account was no longer accessible after Indonesian media published a picture of him posing in front of Maxim Birdnest, sourced from that account.

Left with only RM200 per month after deductions

Three of the four teenagers sported dark eyebags that made them look much older than their real age.

According to Sundari, they were often forced to work for more than 12 hours a day - and sometimes up to 16 hours - to reach the minimum target of 15 birds’ nests a day.

If they fail, the company would deduct the amount from their monthly wage - starting from RM900, with an additional RM338 for two hours of overtime.

The 15 nests’ daily target is set despite the tedious process of cleaning one nest using tweezers potentially taking up more than one hour. “I fainted twice before due to exhaustion,” said Denok.

The contract they signed with the company stated an 8-hour work day with an additional two hours paid overtime. They work a six-day week.

All four of them said that Maxim often made arbitrary deductions to their wages. For example, Denok said, a worker who takes sick leave would see their wage deducted by RM50 daily. She also claimed the company has refused to pay for their doctor’s fees.

She further claimed they were often denied the extra RM338 for two hours of daily overtime. For their meagre meals, the company made a mandatory monthly deduction of RM200, she said.

From their monthly salary, a deduction of RM108 purportedly for tax purposes was also imposed. As a result, she said there were cases of Indonesian workers who only received less than half of their total paycheck.

Payslips showed by several staff members corroborate the claims. One staff member received less than RM200 from the minimum gross amount of RM1,228.

Under the Malaysian Employment Act 1955, an employer is prohibited from making deductions amounting to more than 50 per cent of the monthly gross salary.

“Looking at the working hours and amount of pay they (Maxim workers) received, this (situation) is akin to slavery,” said Alex Ong, the Malaysian representative for Migrant Care, a Jakarta-based rights group.

The Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur’s labour attache Mustafa Kamal is also of the view that Maxim has breached the law that regulates workers in Malaysia.

Among others, he cited the RM900 basic salary as falling below the new minimum wage of RM1,000 effective June last year.

“Even if their initial (employment) contract is signed at RM900, the company must now raise it (the minimum wage) to RM1,000, as required under the law,” said Mustafa when met at his office.

As for the working hours, he described it as being “too long”.

‘We feed them chicken, too’

Tei meanwhile denied breaking any labour laws and insisted that he is just following the terms agreed in their contracts.

Any new workers who signed after the new minimum wage was put into effect would receive RM1,000, he said, during a late night interview at his factory in Klang.

He also denied that his staff were “forced” to work more than 10 hours a day.

“We have two shifts. Morning and night. There were times when the workers themselves applied to work longer hours to meet their target and earn a bonus.”

However, a payslip of a worker who started in July 2016, a month after the minimum wage was hiked to RM1,000, states the old amount of RM900.

Asked about the worker who received less than RM200 in nett salary, Tei claimed it was because she had been absent from work over several days that month.

On claims of meagre meals, Tei meanwhile said, “We feed them chicken too”. He also laughed off Denok’s account of having fainted from exhaustion. “No such thing,” said Tei who was accompanied by his assistant Grace Tan.

Tei and Tan also provided a tour of Maxim’s facilities. He claimed to provide the best facilities for the workers, whom he always referred to as “our children” (anak-anak).

Going up and down several flights of stairs, they highlighted the air-conditioned dorm rooms, laundry area, kitchen, prayer room for Muslims and even an entertainment room with a karaoke set.

“You can see for yourself. Our facilities are complete. This is a big company,” said Tei.

He, however, did not allow any pictures to be taken.

How they got here

The majority of workers at Maxim were recruited by PT Sofia Sukses Sejati - an Indonesian labour agency with a registered address in Semarang, Central Java. Most of them were graduates of local vocational high schools.

According to Sundari and Denok, the agency has a cooperation with their high school to recruit fresh graduates, promising a two-year working contract in Malaysia.

Tei admitted to have paid RM2,400 to PT Sofia for every worker recruited. From the amount, RM1,800 will be deducted from the workers’ salary, at a rate of RM300 for the first six months of employment.

"I don't know what the RM2,400 is for. What is clear, we subsidise RM600 from the amount," he said.

On the surface, there appears to be nothing wrong in the manner they were recruited and later placed to work in Malaysia.

However, they were promised jobs at Kiss Produce Food Trading but later made to sign an employment contract with Maxim Birdnest - which shares the same address.

During the late night tour of Maxim’s facilities, Tei assembled about 20 workers in an air-conditioned dorm room.

When prompted by Tei, they answered almost in unison that they were well-treated and happy with their jobs.

Tei invited the reporters to interview the workers. When asked in Javanese of their working conditions, the startled workers started giggling at first but then admitted they wanted to go home.

However, one of them said, they were afraid of the fine that they must pay for breaking their two-year recruitment contract with PT Sofia.

According to the contract, any worker who returned to Indonesia before two years would have to pay a fine of up to 11 million rupiah (around RM3,600). There was also a clause allowing the company to claim the amount by seizing assets from the families of the workers.

Indonesia's Labour Placement and Protection Commission deputy director Teguh Hendro Cahyono confirmed that there is no provision for such a clause to be included in any placement contract.

Teguh also questioned the wage deductions for recruitment fees paid by Maxim to PT Sofia. "Both the Indonesian and Malaysian government forbid arbitrary wage deductions unless for purposes of tax or fines," he explained.

PT Sofia’s staff met at its office in Semarang said the company director, Windi Hiqma Ardian was unavailable to comment as she was performing her umrah in Mecca.

According to Windi’s assistant, Mayang, all wage deductions and other terms have been agreed upon by the workers before their departure.

She also confirmed that a fine will be imposed if a worker returned before the completion of her contract.

"If a worker ran away and we cannot locate her, we will find her family. When the contract was signed, their families would be present as well," said Mayang.

Maxim revises work conditions after reporters’ visit

Two memos were issued and signed by Maxim Birdnest general manager Grace Tan, two days after the reporters’ visit to the factory.

The first was to announce that effective this month, all workers will be paid a minimum wage of RM1,000, while their two-hour overtime rate was increased to RM375. The same memo also stated that the workers are entitled to eight days annual leave and their paid medical leave was increased from five days to 14 days.

For workers who wished to extend their contract beyond two years, they were offered a raise of RM200 a month and their levy would be covered by the company.

The second memo included details on revised procedure to apply for leave. It was also stated that the company will now provide transport in the event that any workers were to faint.

For Sundari and Denok, however, the new offer does not change their decision to go home.

"The first thing that I want to is to eat my mum's cooking," said Sundari.- Mkini