Maids made in Malaysia

Both Indonesia and Malaysia will emerge as losers from this maid deal. It is not a win-loose situation nor a win-win situation but a loose-loose situation in the long run. This overblown maid-abuse issue has shown Indonesia the fast-track to bang Malaysia for the buck. We are really getting banged, being poorly represented by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam who continuously fail to leverage up with Indonesia's Manpower and Trans-migration Minister Erman Suparno in the series of negotiations taking place at the present moment. Both ministers are doing a bad job- one banging, banging and banging; the other receiving to the pulp, both not thinking right. Dr Subra, are you sore already.

1) The results of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) survey on Malaysians willing to pay RM700 monthly salary for a maid- which part of the population did the MTUC survey which represented the Malaysian people? RM700 is 155% of the current monthly salary of an average maid from Indonesia. To the reader I would like to pose a question- if you are a salaried worker and if your boss increases your salary by 50% today would his expectations on your work performance increase too? What is Subra trying to say here.

2) Mr. Erman Suparno mentions that “Being trained or untrained is irrelevant. The question is what are the qualifications required by employers for a domestic servant?"
Of course training matters la. Training is essential in every job ladey.
Being trained is the utmost qualification a domestic maid could have (whoops, the word 'servant' is kinda degrading) and nothing else. It does matter when coming to doing the job right and some training ensures that accidents do not happen. Even in factories employers prevent industrial accidents by repetitive safety training, so what about our homes. You wouldn't want cooking gas explosions nor hot-water scalded babies do you.

3)Eh, we are talking about minimum maid wages, but what about minimum productivity and efficiency levels? If expectations do not match up, coupled with higher wages, will this frustrate potential employers even more and lead to increased maid abuse cases?

Minimum wages, weekly off-day and covering maids under the Employment Act 1955 alone are not effective ways to prevent maid-abuse. Both parties Malaysia and Indonesia have come up with everything but the right answers. I do not have answers to all employer-maid issues but I can attest that minimum wages will not work for both employee and employee in the long run because of the nature of the current environment. I feel that many of the issues relate back to work quality. To improve performance standards, an effective method is to implement an appraisal system for maids, and the appraisal goes along with them as they get employed in Malaysia. No minimum wages please, but a standardised increase in wages according to appraisal results. These appraisal results should be signed off annually by the maid, the employer, the agency and the embassy. Maids with good ratings and good standing get more money. Free market economy. Also, this system provides potential employers a choice of hire between experience or new maids. Since maids are being considered under the EA1955, we can do it corporate style right.

As for insurance coverage, one day off per week and the rest of the luxuries I think I'm ok with it. I'm also ok with local holiday trips for that extra motivation and some R&R. Just do the job right.

Pemuda UMNO melarang aktiviti pendaftaran pengundi, perbalahan tercetus

Terjemahan Laporan Sin Chew Jit Poh 4 Julai 2009

Pendaftaran pengundi cetuskan perbalahan
3 orang cendera termasuk dua orang ADUN

Laporan di akhbar Sin Chew Jit Poh yang berkenaan

Ulasan foto

1. Pihak yang dipercayai daripada Pemuda UMNO ingin merampas meja dan mencetuskan perbalahan. Seorang pemuda berbaju hitam memukul meja dengan baton pengawal (nota penterjemah: mengapa polis tidak tangkap budak yang berbaju hitam ini? Mungkin terdapat berbezaan antara undang-undang di Perak dan Melaka)

2. Seorang pemuda diheret dan dipukul (rujukan lakaran garis merah) namun nasib baik seorang polis (berbaju jingga) sempat memberhentikan pengacau daripada terus membelasahnya.



Melaka 2 Julai: DAP Melaka menjalankan kerja pendaftaran di pasar malam dan ini menyebabkan rasa tidak puas hati di kalangan Pemuda UMNO sehingga mengakibatkan kekacauan dan perbalahan. Seorang pemerhati pun kena serang beramai-ramai dan dua orang ADUN DAP pula mengalami cedera ringan.

Perkara ini berlaku kira-kira pada pukul 8:45pm di Pasar Malam Melaka Baru. Ketika itu DAP sedang mengadakan aktiviti mendaftarkan pengundi dan Pemuda UMNO anggap ini sebagai mempolitikkan pasar malam dan membuat bantahan.

Salah seorang Ketua Pemuda UMNO yang hadir di situ adalah Naib Ketua Bukit Kadi Encik Mohd Jalani (ejaan mungkin tidak tepat kerana diterjemah daripada perkataan Cina) yang memarahkan pemimpin-peminpin DAP dan PAS di situ dan mengeluarkan kata akhir bahawa mereka mesti nyah daripada kawasan tersebut dalam masa lima minit, jika tidak beliau akan menyuruh pekerja majlis perbandaran merampas meja kerusi itu.

Namun demikian, sebelum genapnya 5 minit, Jalani dan rakan-rakannya pun bertindak, ahli-ahli DAP dan PAS pun segera menahan meja dan kerusi cuba elakkan dirampas. Kelihatan seorang pemuda memecahkan meja dengan kayu baton pengawal dan 4 atau 5 pemuda lagi bingkas mengheret dan memukul seorang lelaki yang sedang memerhatikan berlakunya kekacauan ini.

Dimaklumkan bahawa lelaki ini pun mengalami cedera ringan.

Ketika itu, ADUN Air Keroh Khoo Poay Tiong mengalami kecederaan di dua belah lutut semasa kerusinya ditolak manakala ADUN Kesidang Goh Liang San mengalami kecederaan otot tangan kiri apabila cuba “melindungi” mejanya.

Nasib baik terdapat polis dalam pakaian biasa di situ yang sempat memberhentikan tercetusnya perbalahan yang lebih parah dan mereka membawa seorang pemuda untuk siasatan lanjut.

Setelah berhentinya perbalahan, ahli-ahli DAP dan Pas pun beredar dari situ pada pukul 9:10 malam dan pergi ke balai polis untuk membuat laporan lanjut.

Laporan mengenai peristiwa yang sama in Oriental Daily: Gambar menunjukkan lutut ADUN Ayer Keroh yang tercalar

Nota penterjemah

1. Dakwaan Ketua Pemuda bahawa pendaftaran ini akan mempolitikan pasar malam; mungkin benar tetapi ini juga suatu perkhidmatan ADUN kepada orang ramai mengenali hak asasi mereka dan ini bukanlah perkara yang buruk. Bahkan SPR pun mengadakan tempat mendaftar pengundi di merata-rata tempat. MCA pun mengadakan aktiviti ini di Kondominium Platinum Hill, Taman Melati sebelum March 2008. Adakah SPR dan MCA telah mempolitikan pejabat pos, pasaraya, kondominium dan sebagainya?

2. Encik Mohd Jalani telah mengatakan bahawa beliau akan menyuruh pekerja Majlis Perbandaran merampas kerusi dan meja. Adakah beliau mempunyai jawatan dan kuasa yang berkenaan? Jika ya, saya mengkagumi betapa cepatnya pegawainya boleh sampai dan bertindak dalam masa 5 minit. Mungkinkah adanya bayaran Overtime yang lumayan? Cuba bandingkanlah dengan betapa cepatnya DBKL dan lain-lain Majlis Perbandaran lain bertindak dalam menyelenggarakan kawasan sekitar.

3. Saya berterima kasih kepada pihak PDRM yang sempat mencegah perkara ini menjadi lebuh parah. Syabas!

4. Dalam waktu DAP Kedah keluar daripada Kerajaan Negeri Kedah dan sindiran bertubi-tubi daripada pihak BN serta pada waktu UMNO ingin menjalin hubungan erat dengan PAS, maka pihak-pihak yang kononnya mewakili UMNO telah mencaci dan menyerang orang-orang PAS yang berdiri bersama orang-orang DAP.

5. Perbuatan menyerang ADUN boleh diibaratkan menyerang dan tidak menghormati pilihan rakyat di kawasan DUN tersebut. Maka saya terpaksa memilih ungkapan daripada RTM, “Ini Budaya Siapa"?

The myth behind the 30% thingy

Reading it the first time,


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/1/nation/4233151&sec=nation


I applauded the bold move by Najib on the economic reforms. Of course the most telling change is that the 30% bumiputra quota requirement for companies seeking to list on the Bursa Malaysia has been done away


However, I wonder what you make of this.


".....All Malaysian companies seeking listing would have to offer 50% of their public offering to bumiputra investors, which would work out to 12.5% of the total stake;...."

To me it means the promoters only (i.e. the entrepreneurs seeking to list the companies; usually they develop the business to a size sufficient to qualify for listing) are able to reap the benefits of deregulation. Typical of BN policies as it benefits the privileged minority.


However, for the non-bumi man, woman and tengah-tengah in the street, their chances of succeeding in IPO application is immediate cut down by 50% “officially” as compared to previously, no such limiting of their “official” chances because before this, public offering is public offering.

The 12.5% quoted above assumes the IPO company is offering 25% for public floatation. If, however, the company decide to offer either 40%, 50% or 70% for public, then the bumi quota will be 20%, 25% or 35% respectively.


Hello! There goes the apparent favourable development in terms of “more equal opportunities for non-bumi"; something Najib is working hard on to re-gain non-bumi support.


Since we have a 50% to be set aside from public offering for bumis only, it is more appropriate, and grammatically correct to split the term “public spread” into “bumi public spread” and “non-bumi public” spread. Najib’s concept of 1 Malaysia illustrated.


"....Saying that the emphasis now was on participation instead of equity, Najib also announced the setting up of Ekutinas (Ekuiti Nasional Bhd), a private equity fund to make strategic investments for bumiputras, especially in companies with high-growth potential...."


Why not a fund for the poor and under privileged instead? Anyway, that is another angle.....


I prefer the approach to groom bumis and also non-bumis into having the right attitude to work, education, financial management and competitiveness. Turn Malaysians into efficient, effective, productive and thinking workers as well as powerfully consumers that make businessmen smile.


Throwing an enormous amount of tax payers’ money into “private” equity fund is falling back on the old model of shareholding and rent seeking mentality. Also, does “private” mean “private club concealed from public viewing and accountability"? If the records of BN administration’s investment vehicles are to go by, we can expect huge losses, unaccountable transactions and evaporation of funds.


I rather put the fund into SMI loans, education and training facilities so that bumis and non-bumis alike can have access to training, financial support and opportunity to compete in an open economy. If Najib wants to open up competition by letting Johnny Foreigners to come in, then equip all Malaysians with the skill, backing and support, please.


Look at Singapore, the flow of foreign equities, manpower, brainpower and business are fluid and dynamic but are Malaysians equipped with the right mentality, work ethnic and awareness to deal with this after decades of competition and information restrive environment?


Oh, by the way, where are the defenders of ethnic rights from Pewaris, UiTM etc as this ground shaking announcement is made? Compared to opening up UiTM for 10% non-bumi seats, isn’t this more significant? Their silence reinforce my impression that they are consistent not in their purported ideas, belief and principles but rather in their support for a particular side of the political divide.

See Liow ('Already Dead'- Hokkien)

When my flight from Jakarta touched down KLIA at 10.45pm last night, I noticed the H1N1 screening counters (right before the Immigration checkpoint) had closed shop. Passengers just walked right into the country without thermal screening. If someone in that flight was carrying the H1N1, we would have had it (I'm crossing my fingers for the 7-day watch-period to be over without an incident for myself). Referring to the highlighted Bernama report above, I think the Health Minister doesn't know what's actually happening on the ground (Woi, don't la call upon the PDRM and Immigration to help watch out for the potential H1N1 infected; the PDRM has their fare share of issues such as illegal airport taxi touts to take care of, potential drug smugglers to watch out for etc. The Immigration on the other hand has their own stuff to care of).

Anyway, on the other flights which I have been through at the KLIA these bunch of guys behind the thermal cameras really look bored and sleepy each time I pass them. I wonder if they really concentrate on the thermal screens or just looking at the lenglui passengers? Are there checks to ensure officers deployed to the entry and exit points do their jobs effectively. For a virus which has the potential to develop into something fatal, such slack controls adopted at our entry and exit points is definitely not it.

Below: H1N1 advisory cards handed out at the KLIA upon arrival of passengers.
Yup, this is flu control.

H1N1 and the Tourism Minister

Whatever one calls it- 'balanced' reporting or 'played down' reporting simply means suppresed news. This is bad news indeed, with Malaysia's H1N1 count increasing and the fact that it takes 5 days for the Press to report the local transmission in Wangsa Maju, the Tourism Minister is calling out for less news on H1N1.

Insight on tourism statistics
Malaysia's tourism relies heavily on inbound tourists; about 22 million ( year 2008) of them per year arriving with about 50% tourists consistently arriving from Singapore and the other 50% from other parts of the world.

This Press report on Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen dated June 29 refers. Although she worries about the huge tourist drop from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and so on, the tourist count from these countries form a small percentage of Malaysia's total tourist arrivals only. Additionally, tourists from this part of the world do not contribute significantly to tourism revenue ie these groups do not spend much because of the average short stay of 3 nights. Also, they tapau (takeaway) a lot from the nearest convenience store- hence not contributing much to food & beverage revenue of the hotels they stay in.

Another factor is that these tour groups come in droves as opposed to single or couple travelers, causing hotel rooms being sold cheaply by the bulk to tour agencies. Rooms rates on the contrary, are usually sold higher to single or non-group travelers compared to transient groups. Lower room rates, lower revenue. Even though the decrease in tourists from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan is significant, the impact on tourism revenue will be not be as significant.

Temporary solution for the tourism and hotel industry
Instead of using the fall in tourist arrivals from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as a reason to suppress stories on H1N1, why not do the following to help out the hoteliers and the tourism industry:

1)Get TNB to offer a temporary discount of say 50% off for 6 months, or waive that 'maximum' tariff rate on peak periods for hoteliers. Power cost is a major hotel killer cost- at least 50% of running costs of a hotel is electricity cost. Besides, Tenaga's maximum demand peak charge is an unfair monopolistic charge.

2)Create a better tourism yield- let's forget about the tourists from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan for a moment and shift our attention to geographical segments which contribute to higher tourism revenue. These market segments contribute a bigger thrust in tourism revenue because of the higher spending power of the people in these countries. Also these tourists tend to have longer average room nights compared to the China, Hong Kong and Taiwan tourists. The continents I am talking about are Europe, the Middle East (Middle East season is starting soon) and Russia (Russian peak season starts from December and ends somewhere in January). Get the higher spending tourists in right now. Get MAS to increase long-haul flights from those countries to our island resorts. Our island resorts need these flights in.
Why island resorts? Resorts have higher room rates, higher food and beverage prices plus a longer stay factor. All these are factors which contribute to higher tourism revenue.

3)Improve the service standards of the tourism industry. Service still sucks even in some 5-star hotels. The Tourism Ministry's hotel rating system puts too much emphasis on hotel hardware and too little on hotel service. For example, what's the point of having a nice swimming pool when hotel staff can't even serve your breakfast right? 5-star hotels must not only look good but serve good. The combination of great hardware and great service is a pulling factor for returning visitors. That's why international chains like InterContinental and Starwood invest millions in systems to continuously improve their service standards.
Yen Yen, it is time to revamp the hotel-rating system because Malaysia has one of the lowest (worst) hotel rates in the world.

4)Why is it that the greenish murkier waters off the beach of Phi Phi Island (Thailand) attract more tourists that the clear you-can-see-your-legs waters at Pulau Singa Besar (Langkawi). I'm baffled. What's happening to the A&P (advertising and promotions) of our country? I thought the budget's quite big for this?


Below: Screenshot fom MAS's online booking webpage- no direct flights from Heathrow UK to Langkawi.

















I have said enough points. The next time someone tells you that it is ok to suppress info on infectious diseases because it impacts the country's tourist industry, please think again.