Reflexology business facing foot masseuse shortage

Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

THE wellness and spa industry is facing a severe shortage of foot masseuses despite being granted a quota to hire 1,500 foreign workers, China Press reported.

According to Malaysian Association of Wellness and Spa acting president Lin Zi Jie, not many Malaysians were willing to join the industry due to the negative stigma attached to being a masseuse.

“Our society assumes that being a foot reflexologist means you are washing someone’s feet,” he said.

“The industry is forced to hire workers from Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.”

However, the restrictive quota would severely affect some 500 operators across the country, he said.

With Malaysia set to attract more than 15.6 million foreign tourists this year, the current workforce would not be able to meet the demand, he added.

Lin urged the government to consider increasing the quota.

It was earlier reported that 500,000 foreign workers will be brought into the country in stages via a relaxation plan to address the shortage of manpower in various sectors and sub-sectors.

> A train attendant in China garnered much praise online after she leapt to the rescue of a one-year-old child who fell off a station platform, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The incident happened recently at the Changzhou railway station in Jiangsu province when the child fell onto the crack between the platform and a stationary train.

Hearing cries, the train attendant rescued the child who suffered minor injuries.

Many Internet users praised the attendant’s bravery but chided the child’s parents for neglect.

> A man in Taiwan caused a gas cylinder to detonate, which led to a fire that killed their friend, China Press reported.

The incident happened on June 25 during a spat between Liu, 26, and his girlfriend Yan, 29.

According to Yan’s statement to the police, her boyfriend caused the gas cylinder to explode in a fit of rage.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.