GEORGE TOWN – Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy has rebuked restaurants in Penang requesting the government to relax entry requirements for foreign workers as they were for before the pandemic due to manpower shortages.
The human resource exco said that no government in its right mind will increase foreign workers in the country as damage has already been done by bringing them here.
“The aim is to reduce the number of foreign workers, and employers also need to look at why locals do not want to take up these jobs.
“It is because the job is difficult, menial and requires them to toil for long hours. Local workers will not want to take that salary if they can get more pay and work fewer hours.
“If you want to get local workers, you have to pay them better,” he told The Vibes.
He depicted the current situation as highlighting the woes of a “capitalist workforce”, where they are required to work long hours and stay in cramped living quarters.
He dismissed the reasoning that foreign workers need to be brought in as no locals are taking the jobs, saying it is not a legitimate excuse.
Now that a portion of foreign workers have been repatriated, Ramasamy said the country should make do with those who are still here.
The federal Human Resource Ministry can also make necessary transfers to channel foreign workers to where they are most needed.
Furthermore, he stressed that labour conditions must be improved. Foreign workers still need to be paid better, given better living conditions and be subject to working hours that are humane.
“Now that Malaysia is part of the United Nations Human Rights Council, it is the best time to look into this.
“We already have a bad human rights record in the country, so why are we promoting long working hours and pitiful living conditions for our foreign labour?
“We cannot say everything is alright. Everything is not alright!”
He added that the issue of businesses hiring foreign labour because locals are not interested in taking up low-paying jobs existed before Covid-19 hit and continues now because of the reopening of the economy.
The Vibes yesterday reported Indian Muslim Community Organisation Malaysia president Mohamed Rizwan Abdul Ghafoor Khan as saying that some restaurant owners are reluctant to conduct dine-ins due to the lack of manpower.
Nearly 200 nasi kandar and Indian Muslim (mamak) restaurants in Penang are reportedly at risk of closure because the pandemic has caused the loss of nearly 20,000 foreign workers. – The Vibes, October 23, 2021
