Do we still need foreign maids?

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The demand for maids in Sarawak is still strong.

THOUSANDS of Sarawakian households are expected to be thrown into domestic disarray if Indonesia follows through with the decision to bar its women from taking up jobs as maids in Malaysia.

According to local registered foreign worker agencies, there is still a strong demand for maids in Sarawak, especially among working couples with young children and elderly parents at home.

The agencies pointed out that even a short ban by the Indonesian government on sending maids to Malaysia a few years ago made lives difficult for many households in the state.

They also claimed maids nowadays were needed to not only look after children but also the elderly, especially those who are sick.

The Sarawak Private Employment Agency Association (PAPSS) said it could not imagine what would happen to those who depended heavily on maids to manage their homes and families if the ban took place.

PAPSS said if Indonesia really stopped its women from working as housemaids abroad, the communities in Sarawak would be affected by the move as well, considering Indonesian maids were the easiest to bring in under the state’s law.

“To hire maids from other countries like the Philippines or Cambodia, applications will have to be made through the immigration authorities and approved by the State Secretary’s office to ensure the maids do not end up as GROs,” PAPPS president Augustine Chin explained.

Chin said PAPSS was planning to set up a consortium to regulate or control recruitment fees, certify the employer, ensure the maid’s basic welfare is taken care of and provide basic training locally for the maid before she is deemed fit to be placed with the employer.

He added that the proposed consortium would also ensure all maids undergo an induction course, focusing on culture, electrical appliances operation, language and the maid’s rights and responsibilities.

He stressed the word ‘maid’ could be quite complex in terms of job specification, and unless properly spelt out, it could lead to a maid not only doing household work but also taking care of the elderly or the sick, baby-sitting and acting as midwife.

“And that’s where problems usually arise,” he noted.

Indonesians learn to do housework during an induction course conducted by a recruitment agency in Jakarta. — AFP file photo

Maids from other countries

Chin said following the latest development in Indonesia on recruiting maids, it was better for the state not to be too dependent on domestic helpers from there, suggesting the state government should instead consider opening up its doors to maids from the Philippines and Cambodia through a new mechanism proposed by consortium.

He believes the only future solution to the shortage issue is recruiting maids from these two countries.

“We have no choice but to open up to other source countries otherwise working wives will have to stay at home, resulting in a manpower shortage for both the private and public sectors,” he said.

A director from one of the local foreign worker agencies concurred with Chin, saying even now many requests for Indonesian maids could not be fulfilled due to lack of interest among Indonesian women to work in Malaysia.

The director who requested anonymity, said gone were the days when women from Indonesia were easily available for the job.

She added that if the Indonesian government really stopped its women from working as maids abroad, it would be problematic for many households heavily dependent on maids from that country to look after their infirm elders.

“It will be worse if the elders are very sick.”

The director noted while it may not be a problem to manage the children who could be sent to nurseries, not many people are willing to look after the elderly, let alone those who were sick.

As for local women, she said most are not keen to work as maids unless they are not married.

“Moreover, they’d rather look after their own households or work in the private or public sector.”

With the Indonesian government seriously contemplating stopping its women from working as maids abroad, she said the only remedy is for the state government open up to more source countries.

“Put business aside — we don’t make much profit from supplying housemaids, anyway. In fact, by providing such a service, we are only trying to help working couples focus fully on their jobs or businesses.

“Unfortunately, despite all the proposals and suggestions we have made to the authorities, nothing seems to work out well so far.

“With the potential slowdown — if not shutdown — in the outsourcing of Indonesian maids, the only solution seems to be for working women to quit their jobs and stay at home looking after their children and elderly parents. And hopefully, their elderly parents won’t fall sick.”

Reluctance to work in Malaysia

The director also said it is time for the state government to open up to other source countries since the current trend strongly suggested Indonesian maids are reluctant to work in Malaysia.

“I don’t know why. As far as we are concerned, there has never been a case of our clients ill-treating their maids.

“From my experience in leading this agency, I have never received any complaints from maids about our clients. Instead, our clients have treated their maids very well — paying their salary without fail until expiry of their contracts.”

According to the director, the minimum monthly wage of a maid is RM700.

She said her agency would also make sure employers pay their maids in full upon the expiry of their two-year contract.

Even then, she agreed it was still Indonesia’s right to decide whether or not to stop its women from working as maids abroad.

A recent report from Indonesia’s Antara news agency quoted President Joko Widodo as saying he wanted Indonesian women to stop working as domestic helpers in foreign countries.

“This practice must stop immediately. We should have some self-esteem and dignity,” he said, adding that he had asked the Manpower Minister to formulate a road map to ensure domestic helpers were not sent abroad to work.

During his recent tour of Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, Joko said it was found that some 2.3 million Indonesian migrant workers were living in these countries.

Around 1.2 million have illegal status and are considered “problematic workers”.

“About 1,800 have been rescued, 800 picked up by Hercules (aircraft) and we will pick up more soon. I’m sure the numbers will continue to grow as we continue to encounter problems in dealing with this issue,” Joko said.

Meanwhile, Chin suggested if the state government decided to look to other source countries for maids, it should only work with agencies registered with the Sarawak Labour Department.

He suggested the authorities and the registered agencies work together to come up with a mechanism to not only protect the foreign maids but also provide training and induction courses for them locally.

In this regard, he said PAPSS would submit its proposal to the state government through the State Secretary’s office.

He said PAPSS has drafted a proposal on the contractual terms and conditions between employers and maids as well as the standard pricing for Sarawak consumers and employers.

A maid works in a kitchen.

Negative impact on Sarawak

According to Chin, the Indonesian president’s move to stop sending maids overseas may have some negative impact on Sarawak.

He fears the policy may revive the illegal selling or trafficking of women (as maids) like in the old days.

“More than 20 years ago when Indonesia did not have a consulate in Sarawak, this was a daily affair at Tebedu border,” he claimed.

He alleged middlemen from Indonesia — better known as calok — would get girls from the kampung early in the morning to sell to Sarawak middlemen or agents.

“Those were the days when Indonesia only had kantor penghubung (contact office) with no proper protection.”

Chin said he used the word ‘sell’ because this was what actually happened in those days.

He also said the new instruction to stop the official or legal agency — PPTKIS — in Indonesia from recruiting bona fide housemaids was akin to turning the clock back.

Having been in the business for the past 15 years, Chin believes nobody can stop the market-dictated force of demand and supply. As long as there is still a demand for Indonesian maids, the calok will continue supplying to Sarawak middlemen.

“When this happens, recruitment fees will skyrocket as it’s more dangerous to smuggle the maids out,” he said, adding that even today, the fees for recruiting a maid ranged from RM9,000 to RM15,000.

He opined that stopping its women from working as maids abroad could harm Indonesia as the high demand may lead to human trafficking.

“But it’s their right. We have to respect it,” he said.