DPM: Employers can get maids from 9 countries

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has informed Malaysian employers seeking a maid that there are seven other countries to source from besides Indonesia and the Philippines.

Zahid’s comments came in the wake of new legislation passed by Indonesia and the Philippines with regard to domestic workers.

Indonesia has requested RM1,200 per month for its maids, while the Philippines requires US$400 (RM1,650) per month. Both these requirements were made in 2015.

“I don’t think our employers can afford RM1,200 for a helper. Therefore, we should hire someone at a reasonable wage,” Zahid was quoted as saying by Malay Mail Online.

He said the government had to consider the wages of employers before it could approve minimum wage requirements from source countries.

According to Zahid, who is also home minister, only Indonesia and the Philippines had insisted on a minimum wage for their domestic workers, in contrast to other source countries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

These are among countries from which maids can be directly hired and these countries had never insisted upon any minimum wages for maids.

Zahid said the government would work with the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) and the Malaysian Maid Employers’ Association (Mama) to help employers reduce the cost of employing domestic workers.

Papa president Jeffrey Foo had told iMoney Malaysia there were 50,000 registered domestic maids from Indonesia in Malaysia last year, down from 240,000 in 2010 and 2011.

However, it is well-known that many unregistered, and illegal, maids are offering their part-time services in the country, either on their own or through agencies. -FMT