Cambodian maids arriving in three months

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians desperately seeking maids for their households can rest easy with the first batch of Cambodian domestic workers expected to arrive in the next three months after a six-year freeze.

Cambodia’s Labour and Vocational Training Ministry director-general Seng Sakda said the maids would be properly trained before being sent to Malaysia.

“We need time to ensure that the domestic helpers sent here are well prepared culturally and mentally,” he told reporters after the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the ministry and Malaysian Association of Foreign Maids Agencies (PAPA) yesterday.

The signing was witnessed by Cambodia’s Labour and Vocational Training Minister Dr Ith Sam Heng. Seng represented the ministry while PAPA president Jeffrey Foo stood in for the association.

Enquiries have been pouring in for the exact date that Malaysians can start hiring Cambodians as domestic helpers after a six-year freeze imposed by the Cambodian government was lifted recently.

In 2011, Cambodia banned its citizens from working as maids in Malaysia following several cases of abuse by employers.

Foo said there was an average 2,000 applications daily for domestic helpers.

“This works out to 50,000 applications a month. We can assure the maids that they will be well taken care of.

“At this moment, we are registering all maid agencies and they will have to sign an affidavit with the ministry to ensure that the Cambodian maids are not abused or exploited.

“Under the agreement, all Cambodian helpers must be given a handphone. The other aspect I can assure is that the helpers will be very prepared to adjust to the Malaysian way of life,” he added.

The association and ministry were in the midst of finalising the salary scale for the maids and the cost of bringing them in, he said.