Friday, June 3, 2011

Indonesian maid issue: Let's wait and see, says association



THE Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies (Papa) has adopted a “wait and see” attitude over the brouhaha on the prohibitive cost of hiring Indonesian maids.

Its acting president, Jeffery Foo, said: “I wanted to make a statement today (Thursday) but decided against it. Why should we argue about the cost of bringing maids in when the Indonesian authorities had not officially announced the lifting of the moratorium yet?”



Jakarta had imposed the freeze on sending maids to Malaysia in June 2009, following numerous complaints of maids allegedly being abused by employers. Before the ban, Indonesia was sending about 3,000 maids to Malaysia every month.

Foo said checks with agents in Indonesia revealed the ban had still not been lifted.

“Why should we be arguing about the fees when we have yet to find out how many maids they will send here? Will it be 1,500, 2,000 or 3,000?

“The number they are sending is important as only then will we know how much the fees are.”

In meantime, Foo said, the association was seeking a meeting with Human Resources Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam to obtain "clear details" on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Monday.

Subramaniam represented Malaysia in the signing ceremony in Bandung, and Indonesian Labour and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar signed for his country.

Under the terms of the MoU, which superseded the one signed in 2006, Malaysian households would now be allowed to employ Indonesian maids, subject to several extra conditions.

One of the key conditions was to allow maids to take one day off a week and to retain possession of their passports, as stipulated by international law.

The initial fees employers have to pay for the maids is RM4,511. It includes RM2,711 — to be paid by the employer — and RM1,800 of the maid's salary that has to be advanced to the agency supplying the maids.

The advance can be deducted later from the maid’s salary.


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