KL fumes at Jakarta's plan for costlier maids

KL fumes at Jakarta's plan for costlier maids

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia was yesterday fuming over Jakarta's proposal to raise the minimum required wage of Indonesian maids working overseas, warning it could hire domestic helpers from Thailand instead.

Indonesian Labor Minister Abdul Latief was quoted saying Monday that Jakarta planned to fix salaries of Indonesian maids working overseas at a minimum of US$400.

But Malaysia's Human Resources Minister Lim Ah Lek told the New Straits Times daily here the proposed salary was too high and might force Kuala Lumpur to turn to other countries for domestic workers.

Malaysia's estimated 200,000 foreign maids are largely Indonesians and Filipinas, while Bangladeshis, Thais and Indians work in the country's labor-starved plantation and building sectors.

The government argued that supply and administration of foreign maids was made simpler by restricting them to the two countries, despite previous appeals by employers for a wider choice.

"This is a basic principle of supply and demand. If the supply is costly, certainly the demand will go down," Ishak Kamaruddin, president of the Malaysian Association of Foreign Workers' Agencies, said.

Ishak said the salary proposed by Indonesia was twice what most average Malaysians could afford to pay their domestic help.

He warned his association would pressure the government to source maids from Thailand and other places if Jakarta pressed ahead with higher salaries, adding that ultimately "no-one will benefit, certainly not the Indonesians."