theSun | FRIDAY JUNE 26 2009
news without borders
‘Bring on Chinese amahs’
Press Digest
by Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KAPAR Batu 4 MCA branch chairman Tan Seng
Geok is all for bringing in China maids, saying
not all Chinese women flying into the country
engage in vice activities or to seduce married
men, the Chinese press reported.
He hit out at the Kapar MCA division wom-
en’s wing for adopting a resolution to object
the idea of bringing in domestic helpers from
China.
It is an insult to China maids, he said of the
resolution, which was passed by the wing at a
recent meeting to echo a similar stand taken by
Wanita MCA chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.
Earlier last week, Home Ministry secretary-
general Datuk Mahmood Adam was quoted by
a Chinese daily as saying that if the Chinese
community no longer had objections, the min-
istry would reconsider allowing Chinese to hire
China maids to overcome problems between
employers and their Indonesian maids.
His remark drew mixed responses from
the public and Chew said Wanita MCA has
not changed its stand since her predecessor
Tourism industry first to be hit by H1N1
TOURISM is among the first industries to be
hit by the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic and
many holidaymakers are postponing their
trips to the West and Australia to the end of
the year, China Press reported yesterday.
They are hoping that by then, the pandemic
would have blown over.
Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen objected to maids
from China two years ago, claiming that young
Chinese women were wrecking families be-
cause of their involvement with local men.
Speaking at a press conference in Klang on
Wednesday, Tan said he agreed with the sug-
gestion that the Home Ministry should allow
maids to be brought in from China as there will
not be any communication gap between these
maids and their Chinese employers here.
He said the detractors should not be too
quick to pass judgment on China maids. “Not
all women from China are here to prostitute
themselves or steal other people’s husbands.”
On the plus side of Chinese families hir-
ing Chinese maids, he said their common
language and culinary culture would remove
some of the problems these employers face
with maids of other races.
“Because there are not many male Chinese
nationals in the country, employers need not
worry about these maids hitting of with their
countrymen, as some Indonesian maids do.”
For example, he said, a friend of his dis-
covered that his Indonesian maid had opened
the door in the middle of the night to let in her
Indonesian boyfriend to sleep with her. He said
there were also cases of Indonesian maids
running away with their countrymen.
With the number of confirmed A (H1N1)
cases increasing sharply in Europe and Aus-
tralia, many outbound tourists are requesting
their travel agencies to put off their trip to a
later date. They also do not want to go through
the hassle of self-quarantine upon returning
from these high-risk countries.
Indonesia stops sending
maids to M’sia for now
JAKARTA: With immediate
effect, Indonesia will halt send-
ing maids to Malaysia until
there are discussions on the
review of the memorandum of
understanding (MoU) on the
matter.
Indonesia’s Minister for
Labour and Transmigra-
tion, Erman Suparno, said
the decision was made after
closed-door discussions here
yesterday with Indonesia’s
Ambassador to Malaysia Da’i
Bachtiar, Indonesia’s Deputy
Foreign Minister
Triyono Wibowo and the
Indonesian Labour Attache in
Malaysia Teguh H. Cahyono.
The meeting was held to
review the position and protec-
tion of maids in Malaysia.
“Actually, verbally I had
spoken of the temporary halt
in bilateral talks with the
Malaysian Human Resources
Minister (Datuk Dr S. Subrama-
niam) during the International
Labour Conference in Geneva
on June 12,” Erman said in a
statement yesterday.
Erman said he will send
out a letter on the decision to
all related agencies today.
The statement said besides
that notice is given that maids
have the right to hold their
own passports and not their
employers and of the standard
rights of maids like wage raises
and one off-day each week.
“To enhance the protec-
tion of maids, the recruitment
mechanism must be done
officially with a clear work
contract,” it said, adding that
employers must use
their maids for legal
purposes and if not they (the
employers) must be punished
according to the law.
Indonesia on its part would
strive to tighthen the departure
process of maids to stem illegal
entry into Malaysia.
Erman will travel to Malay-
 7
sia early next month to meet
Subramaniam, Home Minister
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin
Hussein, Works Minister Datuk
Shaziman Abu
Mansor, the Immigration
Department and the police.
The meeting would discuss
a review of the MoU on
maids.
“After that, in the middle of
July, there will be a meeting
of the joint working group of
Indonesia and Malaysia which
will discuss the implementa-
tion of the agreements entered
in the MoU,” said Erman.
Meanwhile in KUALA
LUMPUR, Subramaniam
said his ministry would wait
for an official statement from
Indonesia before commenting
on the matter.
“We need to know details of
the decision,” he told Bernama,
and added that he had no
further comment on the mat-
ter. – Bernama