Arakan News Agency
Increasing the number of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia is not the best solution in filling up jobs in several sectors.…
Based on checks by The Rakyat Post today, a large number of people interviewed disagreed with the government’s intention to bring in 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers.
In fact, many suggested that the government replace the Bangladeshis with Rohingya refugees instead.
According to a private contractor, Mohd Saiful Rahman, the large number of immigrants flooding into Malaysia was one of the reasons why the locals had a difficult time finding a job.
“The government is willing to pay thousands of ringgit to take the immigrants, but they are not willing to pay the locals who have more skills.
“Maybe the government should take a look at the Rohingyas here. They need a job more than the Bangladeshis, but they also need training in polishing their working skills,” he told The Rakyat Post today.
A marketing manager, Ben Khua, said employing Bangladeshis should not only be for the sake of reducing the salary costs of employees.
“In terms of taking the employees, the management style must be transparent and it should not interfere with locals’ job opportunities, who are currently burdened by the increasing cost of living.
“I agree with the fact that the Bangladeshis be replaced with the Rohingyas because they are willing to come to Malaysia to seek help and lead a better life.”
However, there were some who think that taking the Bangladeshis or the Rohingyas would not change Malaysia’s dependence on immigrant workers.
“It would reduce the opportunities of locals finding a job.
“The Bangladeshis or Rohingyas working in Malaysia would not bring any benefit to the country because they would continuously send our currency to their countries. This would weaken our currency,” said accountant Sateshwaran Rajmugam.
He added that employers preferred to hire immigrant workers as they could pay them less than locals, who must be paid the minimum wage.
On June 24, Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib told the Dewan Negara that the government had no plan to allow Rohingya migrants registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to work in the country.
The government feared any such move would bring about a flood of illegal immigrants into Malaysia.
Ismail said if Malaysia allowed them to work, they would start demanding other things, like educational and medical facilities.
Source : therakyatpost
