KUALA LUMPUR – This year will always be associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, with Malaysia suffering from a sluggish economy and unemployment, among others.
It also brings to light, again, a long-standing issue of foreign workers suffering under poor living conditions in this country.
According to the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, the pandemic arrived on Malaysian shores in two waves by April 14. The second wave, which started in March, saw the country record a staggering 4,346 cases and 70 deaths by April 11 – prompting the fresh Perikatan Nasional government to declare a strict movement control order (MCO) on March 18.
Despite a Japanese think-tank’s assessment of Malaysia being ranked as the second most successful country in fighting Covid-19 in July, positive cases involving foreign workers began to spike by June.
By June 11, the Health Ministry recorded 8,369 cases of Covid-19 among foreign workers in Malaysia. Workers’ poor living conditions, which included cramped accommodations and below par amenities, contributed massively to a lack of good hygiene and social distancing measures.
The country’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in its report stated that the majority of foreign workers, largely from the construction sector, were living in “kongsi houses”, with some 80 occupants in each of them, putting them at higher risk of Covid-19 infection.
As the MCO transitioned into recovery MCO, the government’s flip-flop decision on getting foreign workers to pay for Covid-19 tests caused panic among employers and the workers themselves.
Immigration raids by the authorities also deterred undocumented workers from coming forward for testing, the highlight being the massive raid near Jalan Masjid India on, ironically, Labour Day.
The raid was conducted despite the government’s prior commitment that undocumented workers and refugees could come forward for Covid-19 testing without any fear of detention or deportation.
Subsequently, several raids conducted in Kuala Lumpur, namely Selayang and Gombak, saw thousands of them – women and children included – crammed into immigration detention centres.
This in turn caused more undocumented workers to avoid detection, hampering health authorities’ efforts to contain the spread of the disease.
As a result, positive Covid-19 cases among undocumented workers began to rise. By June, 465 positive cases were identified from nearly 5,000 detained in four Immigration detention centres – Bukit Jalil, Semenyih, Sepang and Putrajaya.
Meanwhile, amid poor living conditions, the number of foreign workers infected with Covid-19 made headlines when Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced in November that Top Glove Corp Bhd, through its Teratai cluster, accounted for 1,511 cases of the total 2,188 recorded nationwide in a single day.
By December, Top Glove became the site of Malaysia’s biggest cluster after more than 5,000 workers were infected.
Presently, other rubber glove manufacturers such as Kossan Rubber Industries and Hartalega Holdings Bhd, as well as other manufacturing facilities, also reported clusters of employees infected with Covid-19.
However, with the actions of the Human Resources Ministry, the welfare of foreign workers is set for a boost as the year draws to a close.
Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan had announced the enforcement of the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446), effective September 1 following amendments that came into force in June.
Act 446 ensures that employers must provide reasonable housing for its employees in compliance with the set requirements, including proper housing or hostel facilities, as well as amenities, such as water and electricity.
Approval for applications to procure foreign workers also depends on the certificate of accommodation issued by the Labour Department under said act.
Subsequent raids at Top Glove have prompted the Labour Department to open 19 investigation papers against the rubber glove giant for failure to comply with Act 446.
A recent raid on December 21, saw another rubber glove factory shuttered due to non-compliance of Act 446. In the instance of Top Glove, the raids prompted its officials to announce an additional RM100 million allocation for purchase of double-storey houses and build centralised hostel facilities.
Additionally, its managing director, Datuk Lee Kim Meow, pledged to better handle employee complaints on living conditions using internal and external sources instead of terminating them – a practice done in the past.
According to Saravanan, since enforcement of Act 446 in September, the department has conducted 1,850 inspections, involving 1,813 employers and 37 centralised accommodation providers throughout Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.
By next year, the department is targeting 25,000 inspections.
Government responses since the start of the MCO have featured a lack of coordination and consistency in handling the foreign worker issues.
However, measures taken by the ministry showed that foreign workers may be due for better treatment by their employers.
Hopefully by next year, employers will play a more significant role in managing their foreign workers by providing better healthcare benefits, decent living conditions and stakeholder engagement. – The Vibes, December 28, 2020
