Minister of Human Resources V. Sivakumar to officiate announcement for National Human Capital Conference & Exhibition (NHCCE) 2023 - Northern Region at Setia SPICE Convention Centre . ( March 12, 2023 ) - LIM BENG TATT/The Star.
GEORGE TOWN: If all goes well in the meeting between Malaysian and Indonesian officials later this month, it will be less costly to get an Indonesian maid for your home.
The government aims to lower the cost of bringing in Indonesian domestic workers after the meeting.
Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar said he was now in discussion with his Indonesian counterpart, Dr Ida Fauziyah, in a joint working group meeting on the matter.
“The joint working group meeting was held in Yogjakarta last month and we discussed this.
“Dr Ida is scheduled to visit Malaysia in the middle of this month to thoroughly discuss the subject,” he told reporters after the announcement of the National Human Capital Conference and Exhibition 2023 – Northern Region at the Setia Spice Convention Centre yesterday.
He said lowering the cost of hiring Indonesian maids had always been the government’s intention.
“We see this as a big problem – not only in this sector but other sectors as well, and we are working to find the solution to this,” he added.
In a memorandum of understanding on the employment and protection of Indonesian domestic servants signed on April 1 last year, the total cost for Malaysian employers to bring in Indonesian maids was capped at RM15,000.
However, there were reports of some employers having paid as high as RM20,000 to RM30,000.
As at Jan 22 this year, there were 399,827 Indonesians working legally in Malaysia in the manufacturing, construction, services, agriculture, domestic workers, mining and quarrying sectors.
Of the total, 63,323 are domestic workers, with those from Indonesia representing the largest number in Malaysia.
Malaysians who are made to pay above RM15,000 to hire an Indonesian maid, are encouraged to report the matter to the Indonesian Consulate-General.
