TOMMY Thomas’ memoir, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, has drawn plaudits and controversy in equal measure. He comes across as candid and erudite, and one can easily understand why many of those in the corridors of power would feel uneasy and react the way they have. Former prime ministers, Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Razak, now arch adversaries, have come together to express ire over the writer’s account on the role another former prime minister, Abdul Razak Hussein, in the May 1969 racial riots. 

I write this though to highlight something which would ordinarily not catch much attention, given the more widely known issues covered elsewhere in the book. Thomas recounted the role that he played in representing the National Union of Hotel, Bar and Restaurant Workers (NUHBRW) at the Privy Council, on the issue concerning whether the service charged earned by workers in the hotel, bar and restaurant industry should have attracted Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributions by the employer. 

There are two components of wages in the hotel, bar and restaurant industry for workers who are considered as non-management – a basic wage and the service charge. The service charge is a percentage of the bill total paid by customers in lieu of a tip, which is in turn distributed to workers through a points system. 

Thomas mentioned two former leaders of the NUHBRW, Lim Fun Saw and John Angelus, the latter being my late uncle, who fought hard and valiantly to ensure justice was served for the workers of the industry. 

Despite succeeding at the Privy Council, where it was held that employers should be contributing the statutory amount as EPF contributions on the service charge earned by workers, the then Barisan Nasional government amended the EPF Act retroactively. This had the effect of denying the workers in the industry what was legitimately their dues. The BN government evidently bowed to the lobby of big business at the expense of the low-wage workers.

Efforts of the NUHBRW and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress since to restore to the workers what is rightfully theirs have not been successful. Many hotels have sought to claim the service charge earnings of the workers, and the NUHBRW is often involved in disputes of such a nature. 

A common thread which ran through Thomas’ memoir was the unholy alliance between businessmen and politicians, which enriches them and keeps them in power, had an adverse impact on the rakyat and the many governing and social institutions in the country. The workers in the hotel, bar and restaurant industry fall within the category of people directly bearing the effects of such mis-governance. 

Such was the impact of the whole issue concerning the service charge on Thomas that he stated that he still recalls with sadness John Angelus, the HUHBRW and what he described as the “wretched parliamentary intervention” when he pays service charge to any establishment. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted people and businesses, and the hotel industry has been one of the most badly impacted. Things will recover though and in the near future, the matter of long-denied justice for the workers in the industry should be on the agenda of parliament. Efforts must be made to pressure parliamentarians into seeing the need to right the wrongs and redress the imbalance in the hotel industry in Malaysia. – March 8, 2021.

* Labour Man reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.