By T.K. Chua
I wish to comment on the directive by Hamzah Zainudin, the minister for domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism to strictly enforce regulations governing the use of foreign workers in restaurants and food outlets.
According to him, foreign workers are hired to strictly work as cooks and cleaners only. Action will be taken against food service operators hiring foreign workers working as waiters and cashiers.
All of a sudden, strict enforcement is imposed because food service operators have earlier threatened to increase food prices in view of the impending new levy rates for foreign workers.
I just find his statement to show him as gullible and even thoughtless.
If approval for foreign workers is only confined to cooks and cleaners, what have the enforcement agencies been doing all these years? Has he ever visited any restaurant or food outlet? Any of these manned by local waiters or even cahiers? Why is the minister so unaware and so gullible?
It is just so typically Malaysian to enforce rules and regulations half-heartedly, closing both eyes to the fact, but when challenged, suddenly turn strict. Are we not aware that restaurants and food outlets have been inundated by foreign waiters and cashiers for years?
We have by default lost the whole food service industry to foreign workers. We now want to enforce the rules simply because food operators have threatened to increase food prices in line with impending increases in foreign worker levies.
I guess the minister’s argument is that locals will take over the jobs as waiters and cashiers, and since levies are not paid on local staff, food prices can be kept under control.
I wish things were that simple. I wish locals could replace foreign workers overnight. I don’t think it is possible now and I don’t think employing locals would be cheaper, even with higher levies imposed on foreign workers as proposed.
Maybe the minister has to look a little further. Maybe food service operators are taking every opportunity to increase prices even though they have benefited enormously from cheap foreign workers who are not suppose to work as waiters and cashiers. Maybe the authorities must seriously ask where are the “dividends” from lower fuel prices? When fuel prices went up, none was spared. Why can’t we expect the reverse now?
Maybe it is time to kick some butts but I don’t think the minister can ever get rid of foreign workers working as waiters and cashiers overnight. Please don’t make statements pretending to act tough when you know it is not going to work.
Issues relating to foreign workers require long-term policies and strategies. We need to phase them in and phase them out in line with our long term economic objectives. These are not kneejerk issues we can settle with cursory observations or reactions.
I am really confused now. On one hand, the minister has announced no foreign workers as waiters and cashiers but on another, 1.5 million additional Bangladeshi workers are waiting at the wings ready to come at any time. I don’t think we know what we are doing any more.
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