YapThomas - The Ultimat3

Suara Rakyat Malaysia or Suara Migrant?

Many of you might have heard of SUARAM which means Suara Rakyat Malaysia.

They have recently released a press statement towards the state government of Selangor because of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s plan to collect RM 10 monthly fee from each migrant worker who are working here in Malaysia.

Let me reproduce their statement which can also be found at their website.

Withdraw monthly fee on migrant workers.

Suaram is deeply disturbed with the plan of the Selangor state government to collect RM10 monthly fee from all migrant workers in the state of Selangor. The new policy was announced by the Chief Minister of the newly formed Selangor state government, Khalid Ibrahim recently during a press interview with Chinese press.

According to the Chief Minister, the money collected will be used for the purpose of setting up a re-training fund for unemployed youths. It aims to equip them with more skills and in a long run reduce the reliance on migrant workers.

The migrant workers community is one of the most exploited and most marginalized groups in the society. They work in conditions described as 3-Ds - dirty, demeaning and dangerous, and theirs are jobs which the locals shun off. They receive low wages and are often exploited by employers or recruitment agencies for non-payment, unjust deduction of salary, long working hours, unfair dismissal etc.

By taxing the migrant workers who are barely surviving and probably in debt in order to pay the exorbitant fees to come to work in Malaysia , an extra heavy burden is added on the migrant workers and their families. And to use the money collected from the migrant workers to re-train local unemployed youth and eventually replace the migrant workers, is scandalous, to say the least.

Even if the monthly fee is to be paid by the employer and not the migrant workers, we are concerned that eventually this fee will be deducted from the migrant worker’s wages one way or another.

The new policy reflects how unsensitized Malaysian political parties, be they in the opposition or the government, are to the plight of migrant workers.

The Parti Rakyat Keadilan (PKR) has espoused the principle of justice and won a huge victory with the pledge to the people to fight against the widening income gap between the “have” and the “have-nots”. Certainly, taxing the poor migrant workers to assist local unemployed youth, do not measure up to the principle and spirit of justice.

Suaram calls on Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim to immediately withdraw this unjust policy. We also urge the Chief Minister to consult civil society organizations who are working on migrant workers issues before making any policy decisions in the future.

Yap Swee Seng
Executive Director

Hello! Please lah!

First, WHY in the first place we can’t hire local Malaysians to do the work migrant workers are doing at the moment?

Do you know that nearly 99% of all local restaurant that I walk in hires migrant worker to work there instead of us Malaysian?

It is because of their low wage pay, we Malaysian are subjected to a neglect by many employers who always think it is cheaper to hire migrant workers than us Malaysian.

Many of us Malaysians have the skills, just that skills comes with a price!
I went to a Mexican restaurant, I hailed for the wait staff and that fella don’t even have proper English communication!
I hailed another wait staff who is a Malaysian, who speaks fluent English and Bahasa! I demanded her to stay and wait our table even though she insist it is not her zone.

I seriously think RM 10 per month is nothing compared to the amount they are taking out of the country. Yea, maybe they choose to settle down here in Malaysia, but how many?

As a political party in Malaysia I laud their move to be sensitive towards our local unemployed Malaysian rather to think of migrant workers first. Well maybe not RM 10 per month but I will still agree to their move even they impose a certain tax on their employers because they prefer migrant workers than us, Malaysians.

Give you one easy example lah, you buy Toyota or Proton, which one cheaper? Malaysian made car right? Imported car like Toyoya will of course be taxed till kingdom comes right? Because we want more Malaysians car on our roads than others right?

Yes I know, Proton car are lousy, but look, what it is for Perodua? You pay little bit more and you get better car! Same to Malaysians, you pay us peanuts, who wants to work for you and the jobs is 3D - dirty, demeaning and dangerous!. Pay us more and we will give you quality. Not that we Malaysians are not worthy to get down and dirty!

Low wage migrant worker are the only ones affected because of this move but it is because of them, we Malaysians don’t enjoy a higher minimum wage because business people says it’s cheaper to pay migrant worker and they don’t want to pay a single sen higher to Malaysians because they can save A LOT. Who are the victims in the end?

BTW, I thought SUARAM should speak for all Malaysian not Migrants…
Oh wait, you are championing for Human Rights? Why not this?
Champion for us Malaysians first than our fellow migrants here…
Else, I think Suara Migrant suits SUARAM better than Suara Rakyat Malaysia…

*better still… YapThomas, your real Suara Rakyat Malaysia* 

Those are my views, please feel free to disagree. TQ. Good Night. Bye Bye.