Goldsmiths want promised quota fulfilled

Compiled by C. ARUNO, DIYANA PFORDTEN and R. ARAVINTHAN

THE Malaysian Indian Goldsmith and Jewellers Association has called on the government to fill up the quota of 2,500 foreign workers as promised to the industry, Malaysia Nanban reported.

Its president Datuk Abdul Rasul Abdul Razak said the industry was one of three traditional Indian businesses the government had promised to allow quotas for hiring foreign workers to address labour shortage. He said Malaysians had shown little interest in jewellery making so foreign craftsmen with experience were urgently needed, but they had only brought in 17 workers so far.

“Indian jewellery makers will lose out massively if this situation continues,” he said after the association’s 29th annual meeting.

He said they would march to the Prime Minister’s Office to submit a memorandum if the problem is not dealt with in 10 days.

It was reported that Putrajaya had agreed to a quota of 7,500 foreign workers for three Indian businesses – barbershops, goldsmiths and textile stores – last year.

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.