Malaysia requires foreign workers to take induction course for visa

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia has made it compulsory for all foreign workers to take a course to learn about Malaysia before coming to the country, a minister said Tuesday.

Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said the induction course became mandatory this month to ensure workers know the country's customs, culture, language and laws before getting a work visa.

Indonesians are exempt from the language requirement because the two dialects spoken in the neighboring countries are similar, he said.

The course is aimed at familiarizing foreign workers with "what they should and shouldn't do (and) to reduce the risk of them getting into trouble when they are here," Subramaniam told The Associated Press.

Malaysia — a country of 27 million people — relies heavily on more than 2 million foreign laborers for mostly menial tasks, such as plantation, construction, and restaurant and domestic work.

But Malaysians also complain that foreign workers are ill-equipped for working here and are responsible for the rising crime — an unsubstantiated claim from statistics. Several highly publicized cases of foreign worker abuse have further marred the issue.

Subramaniam said the courses would take place in the workers' home countries, but Malaysia would supply the materials and train instructors.

Indonesian Embassy spokeswoman Shanti Utami criticized the new ruling, saying it would scare off Indonesian workers, who make up more than half of the foreign labor force.

She said Indonesian employment agencies were "very reluctant" to deal with the new regulation and pay the course fees of at least 120 ringgit ($37; €24).

"It is a very high price," she told the AP. "We have a common culture so I don't think this should be compulsory." - AP

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more