Malaysia desperate for RI maids

Loong Meng Yee, Asian News Network, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Tens of thousands of households are in dire straits, waiting in vain for their Indonesian maids to arrive.

The usually ready supply has now been reduced to a trickle, according to the Malaysian Association of Foreign Workers Agencies (Papa).

The association, which has described the shortage as critical, claimed the delay was being caused by agents in Jakarta who are diverting the supply to more lucrative markets.

"It has become tough this time. The supply has dropped tremendously over the last six months. Things are getting critical because agencies can only meet about 20 percent of the demand.

"The Government must intervene as soon as possible," said Papa vice-president Jeffrey Foo.

He said Malaysia took in about 60,000 maids from Indonesia annually.

"Feedback from agencies shows that about 80 percent of their customers are still waiting for maids. They haven't even got the biodatas to give to prospective employers to choose from," he told The Star.

Foo said they used to get the information within two weeks from their Indonesian counterparts, but it was taking about three to six months now, adding that it would take another two months after applications were submitted.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. Fong Chan Onn, when contacted, said he would inform his counterpart in the Home Ministry how the shortage was affecting many working parents.

"The problem, if prolonged, will not be good for national productivity. It is also not good to depend on one country for the bulk of our maid supply," he said.

Although Malaysia had recently raised the monthly salary from 380 Malaysian ringgit (about US$100) to RM450, it was still deemed too low to attract the maids here as employers in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia offer better pay.

He said agents in Indonesia wanted the salary to be increased to RM600, a move that Papa felt was only a temporary solution as the salaries in other countries were much higher.

There are about 200,000 foreign maids in the country, of which the majority come from Indonesia. Others are from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Papa is suggesting that Malaysia also open its doors to maids from Nepal, Myanmar and Vietnam.

A maid agency owner in Petaling Jaya who did not want to be named said the shortage of Indonesian maids could also be due to the bad publicity over the alleged abuse of Nirmala Bonat.

The agency head said the alleged incident sparked a national outcry in Indonesia:"The press there played up stories of Nirmala and painted Malaysian employers as mean people."

When contacted, an Indonesian Embassy official said the country was being cautious because there had been many complaints about irresponsible agencies that left them in the lurch or refused to help them when they faced problems.

"In some cases, the agents in Indonesia are fed up with their Malaysian counterparts for charging high fees, which can go up to RM4,000-5,000 for one maid. The Indonesian agents are only charging RM1,500 to RM2,000," he said.

Sidebar

Desperately seeking Indonesian maids

KLANG: G. Sashikala, 48, has been desperately trying to get a maid from Indonesia since her last one ran away three months ago.

But like many others, her efforts have been in vain, as the agencies she has approached all say they are not getting any biodatas of new maids.

"I am willing to pay the agency fees as well as the new monthly salary of RM450. But the agencies keep telling me there are no biodatas available," she said.

Sashikala, who lives in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam, and works as a night nurse, has been finding it tremendously difficult to manage without a maid, as her grandson, R. Nikhlesh, 6, is usually with her for most of the day and stays the night at times.

Some days, she only gets down to sweeping the floor and folding the laundry after she has given the boy his dinner and settled him in for the evening.

Another family going through a tough period are the Lims from Pandan Indah.

Businessman Richard Lim, 43, went to three agencies only to be told no biodatas on Indonesian maids were available for assessment.

The Lims need a maid to help with their three children, aged 6, 4 and 2 years, so they can help run the family's software development business.

Richard said they were now sourcing a maid from other countries, including Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

K.L. Lim, 45, from Subang Jaya, a sales executive and mother of a school-aged daughter, has been waiting for a call from her regular agency since her last maid went home to Indonesia three months ago. "My agency keeps telling me there are no biodatas of new maids. They have one or two biodatas in hand, but these maids have been rejected by others," she said. -- ANN