Maid arrival falls short

BUREAUCRACY IN RECRUITMENT: Number is less than the 106 promised in March agreement

KUALA LUMPUR: ALTHOUGH the first batch of 29 Indonesian maids have finally arrived, the number is less than one-third of the promised 106 maids.

Bureaucracy in the recruitment system on the Indonesian side has been blamed for the poor turnout.

In March, the Malaysia-Indonesian Joint Task Force for Deployment, Placement and Protection of Indonesian Maids said 106 maids would arrive in Malaysia by mid-April, giving hope to thousands of employers who had been waiting for Indonesia to lift its 2½-year moratorium on the sending of its domestic workers here.

Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Jeffrey Foo said although the number that arrived was small, it was “better than nothing”.

“We managed to bring only 29 maids as many had backed out because of the bureaucracy in the Indonesian recruitment
system.

“The system places more emphasis on maid accountability and systematic recruitment to ensure that maids are not hired illegally.”

The deployment of maids took longer than expected because of numerous cases of maid abuse, even after the Indonesian government withdrew its moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia on Dec 1.

The ban, imposed on June 26, 2009, was lifted after both governments, in a series of meetings, decided on several conditions, including a pay revision and compulsory 200-hour training, before maids were hired by Malaysians.

Foo, who paid the new maids a courtesy visit at  Rumah Perlindungan dan Pusat Latihan in Taman Yarl here yesterday, said almost all the maids had been taken to their new homes by their employers.

“These maids have completed their training and attended an  orientation programme at the centre here so that they will  recognise their agents.”

On the future supply of maids, Foo said his association  had 32 agents in Indonesia supplying and making arrangements to send more maids.

He said arrangements were being made to ensure that all that was stipulated in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by both countries was adhered to.

The maids will be paid  RM700 monthly, but the salary may be higher if it involves  chores in addition to what is stipulated in the MoU.

Malaysian Maid Employers Association (Mama) president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein, who expressed surprise at the small number of arrivals, said a meeting held with the Indonesian embassy 10 days ago showed there were no problems regarding the arrival of maids.

Engku Ahmad urged the public not  to  jump to conclusions and to give the agencies 30 days before doing a  headcount to see if the numbers tallied.

“There must be a logistical problem. Let’s just give them (maid agencies) a few more weeks before we draw  a conclusion from  the delay.”

He said the embassy had informed it that “everything was under control”.

Echoing similar sentiments was the Indonesian embassy’s  information, social and cultural affairs minister, counsellor Suryana Sas-tradiredja, who said he was clueless about the poor maid turnout.

“Perhaps the salary is too low, or after hearing of abuse cases, they backed out. I do not know the real reason behind this.”

Suryana said the problem lay between  agencies  and the maids as the government would not interfere unless the maids’ rights were under threat.

He said Indonesia offered many jobs and suggested that perhaps Indonesians now preferred to work in their home country.

It was reported that Indonesia would send between 4,000 and 5,000  maids monthly to Malaysia after their training   in Java.

During the initial stages, 12 of 176 Indonesian employment agencies will train the maids, while their placement with employers will be taken care of by five of 221 employment agencies here.

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam  said:  “I was informed by Papa that the maids have arrived. I will make an official statement once I have received more information on it.”

Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) president Jeffrey Foo visiting the 29 maids at Rumah Perlindungan dan Pusat Latihan in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Pic by Che Rani Che Din

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