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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email finally, the ministry clarifies the issue of work permit being stopped for foreign indian workers. the confusion may have arised due to previous statements banning workers from bangladesh and also some miscommunication between ministry officials. MCCBCHST said the ban was for hindu priests, musicians and sculptors, but the minister clarified that it affects all religions. However, minister also said the approval for those three categories will be on a case by case basis, mean there’s a ban on renewal of permit after all, it is only worded differently. The applicants have to appeal.
Worse is PM said he will consider the appeal sent by MCCBCHST! That means either there is a ban or the PM is as confused as like me. I rather take the first option, since the second one sounds scary!
I also feel that over reliance on priest and workers from india is too long. surely we could have sent some apprentices over there or even open a training institute here, under the auspices of MHS for example. for so many years we are still dependent on foreign workers. being a priest pays well, so it is a good career move, if one wants to view it that way.
but to blame employers for not hiring foreign indian workers citing hindraf sounds like a joke to me. most likely a cooked up story to cover for the reduction of workers. If i’m not mistaken, foreign workers from india are less than 20% (including expats and professionals in IT, banking, mgmt, universities, MNCs etc). There are far more indonesians, more myanmars, Filipinos, etc. most of the time, the employment goes haywire due to agents and employers, causing workers to protest/gather at their high commissions/embassies.
Read more about it at:
http://poobalan.com/blog/religion/2008/01/08/no-more-work-permit-renewal-for-religious-workers/
http://poobalan.com/blog/borninmalaysia/2008/01/08/samy-says-indian-workers-banned-then-say-no/
No freeze on intake of workers from India
By MAZWIN NIK ANIS
PUTRAJAYA: There is no freeze on the intake of Indian foreign workers, confirmed Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.
However, he said, there were employers who had asked for the ministry’s approval to change the foreign workers they had planned to hire from India to those from other countries.
“I categorically state that the ministry has never come up with such a ruling or policy to stop the intake of foreign workers from India, what more the professionals. The report by a foreign wire agency claiming the ministry has done so is disturbing.
“But let us be honest here. As a result of the demonstrations that had taken place, some employers feel uncomfortable employing workers from India even though they have already been given approval to take in the workers. “Then they come to us and request to, for example, employ Indonesians instead, and we allow them to do so,” he said in obvious reference to the demonstrations by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), adding that the ministry had allowed several employers who had initially asked for workers from India to switch to workers of other nationalities.
Radzi also said the confusion might have stemmed from the Government’s decision in October last year to once again freeze the intake of workers from Bangladesh due to several problems. The Government, in 1999, had frozen the intake of Bangladeshi workers as a result of the social problems that had arisen from their presence in the country.
He said he had briefed the Cabinet on the issue and had called for a press conference to “clear the air,” adding that he was confident the matter would not strain relations between Malaysia and India and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries on the issue of Indians working in the country remained valid.
On claims his ministry had stopped issuing permits for new applications for Hindu priests, temple musicians and sculptors, Radzi clarified that applications would be considered on case-by-case basis as the number of foreigners working in temples in the country has reached 5,468. “Some of the priests have been in the country for more than 10 years and it is time for us to sit down and look at whether it is necessary to renew their permits. We want locals to do the job and I am sure there are qualified individuals for the job. “Furthermore, this does not apply to Hindu priests only but to Buddhist monks, Muslim ulamaks or imams and religious figures of all religions,” he said, adding that the decision to be more “stringent and careful” started about two months ago.
Radzi said that since November, those wanting to employ foreign workers had to go through the Human Resources Ministry, which would advertise the vacancies and if there were no takers an approval letter would be issued for employers to come to his ministry to apply for foreign workers. “This is an effort to ensure most employment opportunities are taken up by locals and the hiring of foreigners from the 10 source countries, including India, are done in a more orderly fashion. “We must remember that there are about two million foreigners working in the country and the number is substantial,” he said.
