JOHOR BARU: Indian Muslim restaurant owners are hoping Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will make good on his promise to resolve their foreign worker shortage within a month.
Johor Indian Muslim Entrepreneurs Association secretary Hussien Ibrahim said the lack of workers in the sector has been a longstanding problem for most restaurant operators which had worsened recently.
“It may take some time before we start to see improvements as the Prime Minister made the promise only a few days ago but we are really banking on it,” he said in an interview.
Hussien said a proposal on resolving the issue had been submitted to Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan shortly before Anwar made his remarks.
“Now that the Prime Minister himself has issued such a directive, we hope we will finally see some changes and eventually have some breathing space,” he added.
On July 24, Anwar said the relevant ministries and government agencies had been given one month to resolve the shortage of foreign workers affecting the Indian Muslim restaurant sector.
The Prime Minister said the government recognises the urgent need for restaurant operators to fill labour shortages but stressed that the recruitment process must be properly regulated.
On July 28, Ramanan said he had instructed the relevant departments under his ministry to reduce bureaucracy to avoid delays in processing foreign worker applications.
He said the goal was to expedite the application process and complete it within 20 days.
It was previously reported that restaurant operators are facing a serious labour shortage, leaving many short-staffed and struggling to run their businesses.
Restaurant owner Mohd Arshad Mohd Ali said he needs at least 12 workers to comfortably operate his business but currently has only six.
“I am trying my best to hire local workers but it is not easy to attract them to work in restaurants here because they have better opportunities just across the Causeway in Singapore,” he said, adding that many Malaysians choose to work there because of the favourable exchange rate.
In welcoming Anwar’s assurance, Mohd Arshad said it would take time before the directive produced tangible results.
“It is too soon for us to heave a sigh of relief as we have yet to see the impact of the directive,” he said.
Meanwhile, restaurant owner Rafa Khan, who currently has sufficient workers, sympathised with operators who have struggled for years with manpower shortages that have worsened recently.
“I have enough manpower at the moment because I only have one restaurant to manage and about 40% of my staff are locals.
“It is good that the Prime Minister raised this issue and hopefully it will help those who are affected,” he said.
