Maid agencies worried demand for Indonesians may drop

PETALING JAYA: As we enter September, the promised flow of Indonesian maids is only a mere trickle.

This is a far cry from the 10,000 workers expected to come after Hari Raya, as announced by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan on April 12.

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In early August, Indonesian consul-general Bambang Suharto said about 1,000 domestic workers were expected to be approved as part of the first intake, and each agency would be getting between 30 and 50 workers every month.

That hasn’t happened, and employment agencies which specialise in Indonesian maids fear that their business will be affected as employers turn to other source countries.

Agensi Pekerjaan Reliable Sdn Bhd director Lenny Augustine said the recent freeze implemented by the Indonesian government due to a dispute over the maid hiring system had slashed off about 40% of his agency’s revenue.

The agency, which specialises in maids from Nusa Timur Tenggara, has been waiting for maids to arrive for more than two months and has had to advise its clients that the process may be revived only early or in the middle of this month.

“The maids have to go through mandatory training before arriving in Malaysia. However, when the maids arrive, we still need to complete Malaysian paperwork which would take up to 14 days,” said Augustine.

He added that the training for the maids would also take some time.

He also said that clients who initially requested an Indonesian maid might switch to a Filipino maid or one of another nationality due to their growing impatience with the lengthy waiting period.

A Global Ace Employment Agency recruitment agent who preferred to be known only as Sally said after the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on the Employment and Protection of Indonesian Domestic Workers (MOU PDI) between Indonesia and Malaysia on April 1, more employers are opting for Filipino maids.

The MOU stipulated higher wages and narrower job scopes for Indonesian maids.

Sally said it would take some time for the market to accept the new salary for Indonesian maids.

“With the increment in salary, we have a large supply of Indonesian maids. We hope we can filter better quality maids because of this,” she added.

On Aug 5, it was reported that about 23,000 Indonesian domestic workers had been approved and processed for matching with employers in Malaysia.

Indonesian ambassador Hermono said the workers would be arriving in groups from mid-August once a pilot project was in operation through the One Channel System.