Being extremely enterprising, many have left their employment to start small-scale businesses in the major capitals of the country as government efforts to curb reliance on foreign labour fails.
The old scenario of foreign workers toiling in low skill jobs in the country might not be true anymore. Workers who have stayed in the country for a while might be prone to move to greener pastures.
If documented foreign workers are 14 per cent of the total workforce then we can easily deduce that both documented and undocumented foreign workers would easily constitute about 30 per cent of the nation’s workforce.
It is no use for the government to raise a hue and cry about the large presence of workers in the economy if no consistent effort is undertaken to reduce their numbers to manageable proportions.
If employers are bent on using cheap and docile foreign labour, then there is nothing that the government can do to alter things in favour of local workers.
Moreover skilled workers constitute merely 30 per cent of the entire workforce and this means that foreign workers, in the absence of controls, can easily compete with unskilled local workers.
In fact, in many establishments that rely on cheap labour, foreign workers are preferred to local workers simply because these foreign workers can easily be controlled and manipulated to the whims and fancies of employers.
Insofar as foreign workers are concerned, the government is more willing to bend over backwards to assist unscrupulous employers on the grounds of an artificially created “labour shortage” problem. At times the government might stop the flow of foreign workers temporarily, but the flow of foreign labour, both documented and undocumented, has become a permanent aspect of the Malaysian labour landscape.
The primary reason we depend on foreign labour is simply because of the nature of the economy. We have uneven or lopsided economic development of the country.
While there are modern sectors dominated by foreign multinationals, there are also sectors that engage in primitive accumulation, in other words, rely on the extraction of cheap labour. The co-existence of these two sectors, although very contradictory, has thwarted the Malaysian economy from developing rapidly and, more importantly, shedding its image of reliance on foreign cheap labour.
There is another dimension to the significant presence of foreign labour in the country. This has to do with the nature of cronyism and favouritism. Since quick money could be made from the recruitment of foreign labour, those close to politicians in the ruling parties have formed hundreds of companies to recruit foreign labour. Such recruitment is extremely profitable and those who apply for licenses are expected to reap handsome profits from the exploitation of foreign labour. Who really cares about their welfare and their well-being?
The Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Ismail Abdul Muttalib, should not complain about the large presence of foreign labour in the country. Instead, he should be initiating steps to reduce their number in the country.
But then, given the structural position of the Malaysian economy, sectors still dependent on unskilled labour and the close and continuing nexus between labour recruiters and politicians, it would be unimaginable to reduce the number of foreign workers.
Despite the extreme exploitation, many foreign workers are still glad to make Malaysia their home. Being extremely enterprising, many have left their employment to start small-scale businesses in the major capitals of the country.
In Penang, despite strict laws, foreigners seem rather apt at opening up business establishments in George Town. A number of restaurants and grocery shops have been opened over the years. In some areas, the locals have rented their premises for foreigners to start their business.
While the mainstay of foreign workers in the country could be in the wages sector, the economic activates of foreign workers have become quite diversified over the years. In years to come, Malaysians will be frequenting restaurants and business enterprises run by foreign workers especially those from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Vietnam.
As it is, foreign workers have taken over as cooks and waiters in many of the restaurants in the country.
Well, if we can’t beat them, might as well join them in their efforts.
P Ramasamy is Deputy Chief Minister II Penang.
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News Source: FMT
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He said employers had started applying for new workers since news reports emerged in May about a lifting of the freeze on hiring of such foreigners in the manufacturing, construction, plantation and furniture sectors.