27 January, 2002 (Business Times) - THEY form almost 70 per cent of theconstruction workforce and an equally sizeable proportion of domestichelpers as well as plantation workers, yet this week, Malaysians made aresounding call to send Indonesian migrant workers back home.

It is not without reason.

The riot on Jan 17 at the Hualon Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd textile factoryin Negri Sembilan, and the rampage by machete-wielding Indonesian workersin Cyberjaya three days later, incurred both the wrath and fear of theMalaysian Government and its people.

In quick succession, the offending workers were deported, a temporaryfreeze on fresh employment of Indonesian workers was instituted, and a"Look to Indonesia Last" policy on recruitment was proclaimed.

Ordinary Malaysians have made their stand on the matter perfectly clearwith some even declaring that enough was enough and that we had toleratedthese errant migrant workers for far too long.

Hundreds have written in to newspapers and websites to condemn the actionsof the errant foreign workers saying that Indonesians, having been givenan opportunity to earn an honest living in Malaysia, have been testing ourgenerosity and patience.

Many were particularly incensed at their audacity for attacking andinjuring Malaysian policemen while waving their national flag and singingtheir national anthem.

Some say now that they are back home they can sing it while waving theiremblem hourly.

Even an apology from Jakarta was not sufficient for many who supportedtough Government action and even the idea of repatriating all theIndonesian foreign workers.

One such letter in the New Straits Times even suggested that while "we askour people to be lawabiding, we seem to humour foreigners who don't give ahoot about our laws and the way we do things and settle problems".

There is little surprise that this has been the reaction as just lastmonth, 2,000 illegal immigrants, mostly Indonesians, torched a section ofa detention centre in Johor to avoid deportation.

Where the public has reacted fast and with fury at the mobs who dared toflout the law, industries most affected have been a little more cautious.

While voicing their displeasure over the misconduct of the Indonesianworkers concerned and expressing full support for the authorities'actions, they have called for some restraint, asking that good workers notbe penalised for the misbehaviour of a few.

Malayan Agricultural Producers Association (Mapa) executive directorMohammad Audong said their records showed that Indonesians were the mostproductive and hardworking oil palm harvesters compared with workers ofother nationalities.

He said Mapa members employ 37,681 foreign workers — most working in oilpalm estates — and 75 per cent of this are Indonesians.

"There is no preference among employers for foreign workers of a specificnationality. The criteria are strictly on the willingness of workers totake up the job offered and to follow the rules and regulations.

"However, due to the proximity, availability and language, recruitment ofworkers from Indonesia is definitely favourable to most of the employers,"he said.

He added that it was also cheaper to recruit labour from Indonesiacompared to other countries, a point on which both the Malaysian EmployersFederation (MEF) and the Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM)agreed, stating similarities in food and culture as factors that enabledthe workers to adapt faster.

Mohammad said there could be a small number of workers, be theyIndonesians or other nationalities, who may cause problems.

"However, looking objectively and rationally, it is better not to penalisegood and productive foreign workers because of the misbehaviour of a smallnumber." MBAM president Lai Moo Chan said he believed the majority offoreign workers who sought employment in Malaysia did so mainly to improvetheir standard of living and that of their families.

Lai also said he expected demand for construction workers to increase thisyear and added that the industry would still have to rely on foreignworkers.

However, he believed that gradual phasing out of foreign workers fromIndonesia could be adopted if the Government could work out an arrangementto get workers from other countries in place progressively.

Also, in order to make it a truly feasible plan, the industry would needto nurture a core pool of skilled local construction workers, Lai said.

The outlook for the plantation sector, however, is not as rosy oroptimistic. "If the Government does not allow us to take workers fromIndonesia then it will be difficult," Mohammad said.

"We will have to train workers from other countries and so far ourexperience with those from Myanmar proved just how difficult it could bewith a language barrier and people who are unfamiliar with working in oilpalm plantations." To suggestions that Malaysia should stop importingforeign labour altogether, MEF executive director Samsuddin Bardan saidthe public should realise that Malaysia takes in foreign labour notbecause they wanted to but because they needed to.

He said the number, which stood at 700,000, was small when compared withthe total Malaysian workforce of eight million people.

"In certain sectors like plantations, the majority of workers areforeigners because this and the construction industry are shunned bylocals.

"Not to have these workers in some sectors would be a real loss. Takehouse maids for instance. Some Malay employers need Indonesian maidsbecause of their shared religious beliefs," he said.

There are 155,000 foreign maids employed in Malaysian households atpresent, many of them from Indonesia.

"Of course, we would prefer locals but locals don't last... the turnoverof blue-collar workers is very high, they prefer to work inair-conditioned environment," Samsuddin said.

He added that the perception among the public was that foreign workerswere employed simply because it was cheaper to do so.

"People think that it is cheaper but after paying the levy, the cost oftransporting them here, medical fees, food and lodging, it is not cheap."Also urging caution in reacting to recent events are academicians who havebeen following the labour scene in the country for the last 20 years.

"Why not just take action against those who broke the law... it is notfair to punish all for the misdeeds of a few," said Dr Azizah Kassim, headof Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Ethnography and Development Department.

"Action should be taken against any foreign worker for breaking the law."However, banning them altogether may not be the right option because asmall number may have rioted, but we cannot relate that to the entireIndonesian migrant worker population.

"At least 70 per cent of our migrant workers are Indonesians and it isunfair to impose a ban on the whole lot because of the action of a smallnumber," she said.

Phasing out Indonesian workers from the Malaysian workforce would bedifficult because of our dependency on them, she said, citing the exampleof Sabah, where 80 per cent of plantation workers were from Indonesia.

Besides, Azizah said, if Malaysia closed the door on legal employment,Indonesians could and would still enter the country illegally.

"If we close our doors, they will just break in... they need the jobs andthe money," she said.

Professor of Political Science at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Dr P.Ramasamy said the Government should look at the bigger picture, and go tothe root causes of recent events before taking the next step orformulating policies on the recruitment of foreign labour.

"We must start to look at the way these foreign workers are recruited andmaintained... there is something seriously wrong there.

"We have to realise that this country has benefited from the Indonesianworkers and the way we are dealing with the problem now is very naive. Weare looking for people to blame rather than finding out the real cause ofthe problem," he said.

Azizah also said that there seemed to be no comprehensive approach to theproblem.

Here, even Lai noted that policies and procedures on foreign workers atpresent lacked standardisation with rules being changed frequently,causing much confusion.

He said the lack of adequate mechanisms to enforce immigration rules andthe lengthy and expensive procedures could be contributing factors to thepresence of illegal foreign workers.

Lai said ultimately, if the Government insisted on carrying out phasedreduction in employment of foreign workers, it should be worked out over arealistic time frame with the industry to be provided with incentives inthe adoption of labour-saving construction approach.

Samsuddin said employers had little choice, but to abide by any decisionon recruitment.

However, he too said that employers would like to have more consistency inthese policies.

"For instance, we would like to know for certain which countries we canrecruit from and what kind of workers we can take in... policies made inthe short term are rarely effective," he said.

While there is an urgent need to show migrant workers that there is nomercy for those who flout the law and disrupt the peace, there is also aneed to get to the bottom of the problems that have caused such a violentand unthinkable response from migrant workers.