Maids 'in three months'

THE Malaysian Maid Employers Association (Mama) has assured that maids from Indonesia will start arriving within three months.

Following a meeting it described as "successful" with Indonesia's Labour Supplier Association (Himsataki) on Monday, Mama president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein said both sides had agreed to find common grounds to end the long-standing issue.

"The meeting between the two parties was the first and already we have agreed on some terms. There are, however, some areas that still needed to be looked into.

"Our next meeting will iron out these areas, which include improving maids' working conditions, insurance protection for employers and employees in cases of abuse and the maids absconding, as well as training.

"In three months, we are confident of bringing in as many domestic helpers as possible to meet local demand."

Engku Fauzi also debunked suggestions that Indonesian workers were no longer interested to work in Malaysia, saying Himsataki had revealed to Mama that many of the workers were waiting to come over as they viewed Malaysia as an ideal place to work.

He said the meeting between Himsataki and Mama would also soon finalise ways to help Indonesian maid agencies in reducing their cost of recruiting the workers.

Engku Ahmad Fauzi added that Mama was firm in the meeting that employers should not fork out exorbitant fees for maids.

"We are planning to provide a low rate for the cost of hiring Indonesian maids, as close as possible to the one prescribed in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the government of Malaysia and Indonesia.

"However, the meeting is still at its initial stage and there are many aspects that need to be discussed."

The MoU stated that the ideal recruitment cost for an Indonesian maid should be at RM4,511.

The second meeting between Himsataki and Mama is scheduled for next week here.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan said the government was looking at providing long-term solutions to the problem by enhancing existing infrastructure and facilities.

These included community-based childcare centres and ensuring a proper supply of part-time domestic helpers.

Speaking at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health tower, she said the lack of domestic help at home could have an effect on the country's workforce.

"Many women have to stop working in order to care for their families and if we do not resolve this issue soon, there will be less participation from women in the workforce.

"Malaysia has the lowest rate of women participation in the workforce among Asean countries, where only 46.2 per cent of the women population are working compared with 70 per cent in Hong Kong and 60 per cent in Singapore," she said at the launch of the "Life beyond maids" workshop yesterday.

Malaysia has more than 6.5 million latent workforce in the labour market and half of them are women.

The two-day workshop was initiated to gather stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, government bodies and experts to discuss long-term solutions to reduce the society's dependence on foreign maids.

Maznah said the initiatives would be able to increase the participation of women in the workforce while providing opportunities for those in the latent category to work.