Recruitment fees for maids just don’t tally

I FELT sad after reading June HL. Wong’s article, “Looking for a help-ily ever after” (The Star, Sept 21; online at https://bit.ly/3fcvFia).

The article showed just how difficult it is to get a decent foreign maid for a reasonable amount and also find a trustworthy recruitment agency.

In the Immigration Department’s portal, it is stated that the maximum cost of hiring a maid is RM15,000. But Wong wrote that RM17,695.08 and RM23,300 were quoted by two agents. This is daylight robbery!

When the price of roti canai is increased by 10sen at mamak restaurants, the whole nation goes berserk. But nobody bothers about the exorbitant fees being charged for hiring foreign maids.

The levy and processing fee for a maid is only RM610. The Fomema medical fee is RM190, insurance (Foreign Worker Insurance Guarantee and Foreign Workers Hospitalisation & Surgical Insurance) is about RM250, and Socso (Social Security Organisation) is about RM200 per year. All this adds up to RM1,250.

So, what is the agent’s fee in the source country and in Malaysia? RM5,000 each? More? Are there hidden costs that need to be paid to others?

Our government must be transparent on this matter. Is it difficult for the Home and Human Resources ministries to discuss and settle these matters?

According to the Immigration Department’s portal, there are 91 and 129 agencies in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, respectively. Can’t our government and the respective embassies talk to all of these agencies and agree on a reasonable fee? This is not rocket science. People have been suffering financially from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Our policy makers must involve all the stakeholders when making policies. We don’t need any flip-flop decisions! Quoting the motto of my former school, Horley Methodist (formerly Anglo-Chinese School) Teluk Intan, “Live to serve.”

MOHAMED IQBAL

Kuala Lumpur