TEN thousand Indonesian maids will be brought to the country by the middle of next month, said the human resources minister today.

M. Saravanan said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recruitment and placement of Indonesian maids will be signed on February 7 and 8 in Bali, Indonesia.

“After the signing, Malaysia and Indonesia will undertake a pilot project to recruit 10,000 individuals, which is expected to be implemented within a week.

“This pilot project is important and significant to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation and improve any weakness that arises.”

He said the decision is made after a meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Ida Fauziyah, in Jakarta.

We have agreed “on key issues like one maid, one house; a one-channel system; and, salary”, he added.

“The one maid, one house policy will replace the proposed one maid, one task policy, where one maid can be employed in a household with less than six people.

“Meanwhile, the one-channel system has been agreed as the only channel for maids to enter Malaysia.”

Saravanan said matters related to the recruitment cost structure will be reviewed every six months, so they are in line with any current development and take into account other matters such as flight costs and quarantine.

The Malaysian Insight previously reported that many foreign maid recruitment applications were received, but they were not met as many such maids had already returned to their countries of origin.

Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia president Foo Yong Hooi said the domestic staff shortage has distressed many families needing help at home.

He told The Malaysian Insight that Malaysia had 300,000 maids before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, but the figure dropped to less than 90,000 after the virus.

Saravanan said Indonesia also agrees to allow 10,000 Indonesian workers to be recruited in the plantation sector.

“This is a start to the recruitment of 32,000 foreign workers in the plantation sector by special exception, as per the decision agreed on by the cabinet in April last year.” – January 24, 2022.