Malaysia the Hell for foreign workers

Focus Malaysia:

The abuse of Velayutham: Inexcusable and shameful to Malaysians!

By Prof P Ramasamy

Is this how we treat foreign workers? Mahatma Gandhi once said that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way their animals are treated.

It is an utter disgrace that employers in Malaysia are exploiting and ill-treating foreign workers.

It might not apply to all employers, but the behaviour and attitude of a small number of employers are enough to cast aspersions on all of them.

The case of a worker from Tamil Nadu called Velayutham is illustrative of what is happening to foreign workers in Malaysia, especially those employed in the labour-intensive sectors.

What was narrated by Velayutham is not an isolated case but tip of an iceberg.

Perhaps it would take a royal commission of inquiry to establish the sad state of foreign workers and the causes underlying their present predicament.

Generally, foreign workers are not paid well, having to work long hours and punished if they slack in the work.

The readily available undocumented workers to replace the documented ones puts a lid on improving the working conditions of these workers.

The overall presence of foreign workers stands in the way of improving working conditions for locals as well, especially their wages.

Velayutham was the lucky one who escaped to India to narrate his sad story but there are hundreds if not thousands who are unable to tell their stories of extreme exploitation.

Velayutham

They suffer in silence but we take for granted that the country and their employers are providing yeoman service to these unfortunate souls.

There are extreme situations, although they do not get public attention. Here I am talking about foreign workers who might have just disappeared from their work places and nobody knows what happened to them.

Workers are brought in to work in particular sectors but they are constantly moved from one sector to another.

It has become a norm for migrant workers to be issued permits to work in particular sectors, but sooner or later, they are assigned to other sectors by agents or employers, or both.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan who thinks that his ministry was doing its best to check and control the abuse of foreign workers needs to explain why these people are moved from one sector to another, contravening their employment permits.

Gov’t lacks the will to protect migrant workers

Human Resources Ministry (MOHR), with its various departments and enforcement agencies, hardly make an impact in improving the living and working conditions of foreign workers.

There is no concerted attempt to check and enforce the laws broadly and effectively.

In the case of Velayutham, the response of Saravanan was typical. He said that the ministry took immediate action against the party responsible for abusing and exploiting Velayutham.

But what about others who were abused and exploited? What action is the ministry taking to ensure that foreign workers are treated with respect without being exploited?

I do not think Saravanan can effectively answer this and myriad of other questions pertaining to the treatment of foreign workers.

The issue is because recruitment and migration of foreign workers are a complex matter.

The nexus between agents in foreign countries and those stationed here determines the migration patterns, nature of employment, wage structure and other related matters.

The employers are the biggest culprits, not all, but those in sectors that require cheap labour, long hours of work and most importantly, pliant labour.

Restaurants in the country are infamous for using cheap labour, forcing migrant workers to long working hours and at reduced wages.

It is no wonder that the abuse and exploitation of labour is quite common in the food industry especially in restaurants that place premium on cheap and pliable labour.

What was exposed by Velayutham in the media was not really something surprising. It goes to indicate that Malaysia is certainly not the El Dorado for foreign workers.

With nearly 30% of the country’s workforce consisting of foreign workers, one can easily imagine the extent of labour exploitation and abuse.

Need for labour, dependence on foreign workers and others prevent the Government from having the political will to check exploitation and abuse.

Saravanan might say this and that, but he knows that his ministry is incapable of ameliorating the difficult circumstances that foreign workers are caught in.

His ministry having transferred most of the authority on foreign workers to Home Ministry (MoHA), has little authority on foreign labour, apart from some minimal enforcement powers.

I sometimes wonder why a country like India, a regional power, would want to depend on the earnings of its overseas workers.

It is not that the Indian Government is unaware of the terrible working conditions of its citizens in foreign lands.

But yet the Indian Government permits its citizens to travel and work abroad, especially those who are not educated and without skills. Indian overseas missions are a poor check on the terrible conditions of their citizens.

Foreign workers, whether documented or not, are human beings who expect to be treated well and paid for their labour.

Malaysia cannot pretend to be moving in the direction of democracy if foreign workers continue getting such a raw treatment.

And I feel sorry and ashamed of the treatment meted out to Velayutham by his employer in Malaysia. – June 20, 2021.


Prof P Ramasamy is the Penang deputy chief minister and Perai state assemblyman.