Hello, is your maid doing fine?

2009/11/08

By Jason Gerald John

MALACCA: Come Dec 1, do not be surprised if you get a "friendly visit" from officials from the Home Ministry and Human Resources Ministry to check on your maid.

This visit is part of a surveillance programme being implemented to ensure that foreign maids in the country are well taken care of.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the visits would be first done randomly in the Klang Valley beginning on Dec 1, before being implemented in all states.

"This is not a raid, so one does not have to worry... it is more of a friendly visit which is aimed at educating both the employers and maids," he said after attending the convocation of students from various industrial training institutes here at the Malacca International Trade Centre yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam added that during the visits, the officials would also check on the maids' knowledge of their rights and give them a handbook which outlines the country's laws and where they should go in case of emergency or to seek assistance.

He said that if during a visit, the employer or maid was found not to be abiding to the contract or agreement, they would be given counselling.

"We want to send a clear message to everyone that the government is concerned about foreign maids in the country."

In a related matter, Dr Subramaniam said Malaysians who had paid a deposit for Indonesian maids before the Indonesian government imposed a freeze would still get their maids but "it would take some time".

"I can assure that those who had paid their deposit would get their maids.

"We would be meeting Indonesian officials this month to expedite the sending of maids as promised.

"However, I do not deny that there will be a shortage of Indonesian maids due to the freeze but the government is in the midst of ironing this out," he said, adding that Malaysians could also get maids from other neighbouring countries.