Monday, February 26, 2007

Indon maids may shun Malaysia due to low wages (Star)



Indon maids may shun Malaysia due to low wages

MALAYSIA might be facing a shortage of Indonesian maids because of the low salary we are offering compared to other countries, said Malaysian Association of Foreign Maids Agencies (Papa) president.

In an exclusive front-page report, Nanyang Siang Pau said that Indonesian maids' agencies were also earning more with the higher payment of application fees by employers from other countries.

Papa president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan said according to the latest report, Taiwanese employers were going to increase the Indonesian maid's salary from the current RM1,700 to RM2,200.

“This is a lot more than the RM500 we are offering monthly,” he said.

Raja Zulkepley was reported as saying that other countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Brunei would also be increasing their pay.

“If the situation persists, we might appeal to the Government to allow us to bring in maids from Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal and China,” he said.

He said 95% of the maids here are from Indonesia and there might be some communication and cultural barriers if they bring in maids from other countries.

The daily also reported that Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho said no charges would be incurred for the application of a new MyKad if the applicant's religion was wrongly stated.

However, this only applies to mistakes made by the department and a RM10 fee would be levied on those who wanted to change information regarding their religion in their MyKad.

“Muslims who want to change their religion status will have to follow court orders,” he said.

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