1,300 return from Malaysia

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: At least 1,300 Indonesian workers working at a wood processing company in Bintulu, Malaysia, have returned to their hometowns in Pontianak and Sambas due to a dispute with their employers, a police officer said.

Comr. Suhadi SW, spokesman of the West Kalimantan police, said on Thursday that the workers, who were employed by plywood company PT Sampling Plywood, had been taken by bus from Kuching to Pontianak.

Suhadi said that the workers had decided to return home because the company had applied strict rules on its workers. All of them fully opposed the implementation of the strict rules.

"We were inhumanely treated during our employment. For example, as a form of punishment we either had to run around or spend time inside a garbage cabin if we were found to have made mistakes," an unidentified worker said, adding that the workers' wages, which were only about RM360 (US$94.98) per month, were cut by RM43 if they failed to show up. 46)