RM7,800 recruitment fee for Indonesian maids

Malaysia and Indonesia have finally decided to allow maid recruitment agencies to ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enable more Indonesian maids to work in the country, with a fixed recruitment fee of RM7,800.

Human Resources Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman said that during a recent meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak proposed that the recruitment fee to be fixed at RM7,800.

"The Prime Minister suggested that a MOU be signed between the Malaysian Association of Foreign Workers Agencies (Papa) with the Indonesian Manpower Suppliers Association (Apjati)," he said.

Zainal pointed out that the MOU should be signed in January next year and Indonesian maids are expected to be brought into the country in January, too.

However, the fixed recruitment fee is believed to cause dissatisfaction of maid recruitment agencies as they think that the amount is unprofitable and could not attract many Indonesian maids to work in the country.

Zainal told Sin Chew Daily that appropriate actions will be taken against any Malaysian maid recruitment agencies that violates the government's directive and arbitrarily raises the recruitment fee.

He explained that in the MOU signed between the countries in 2011, the fee was originally set at RM4,511 and since it was opposed by the Indonesian authorities, the Human Resources Ministry of Malaysia thus reviewed the fee structure and reset the fee at RM7,800.

"According to the report of Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia, only 669 Indonesian maids have come to work in the country from January 2012 until today. The reduced number was said to be related to the low recruitment fee," he added.

Papa president Jeffrey Foo said that they will follow the government's directive but will still meet and discuss the matter with Human Resources Ministry's representatives.

The Indonesian maid issue seems to have been solved but is it still too early to conclude whether more Indonesian maids will come to work in the country, as the fixed recruitment fee does not bring much profit to recruitment agencies in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

In addition, the impacts and changes brought by the introduction of a large number of foreign maids to family structures and the whole society are a problem that must not be ignored.

Zainal said that the employer will bear RM6,000 of the RM7,800 fee while Indonesian maid bear RM1,800.

However, the employer need to pay the RM1,800 for the maid first and deduct RM300 from her pay for six months.

He said that the fee was fixed at RM4,511 earlier but it failed to compete with other countries and regions like Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Therefore, not many Indonesian maids were willing to work in the country.

The agreement reached by Malaysia and Indonesia includes: only registered private agencies can bring in Indonesian maids, the maids enjoy one day off per week, the maids' passports should be kept by themselves, the maids' salaries should be decided by the market and employers must pay the maids through the bank.

He also mentioned that Indonesian maids are not included in the minimum wage system to be implemented next year.

It is understood that Malaysia needs 20,000 to 30,000 of Indonesian maids.

Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE
Sin Chew Daily