RESTAURATEURS in the country want the government to raise the age limit for foreign workers and improve the recruitment process.

They told The Malaysian Insight they believe the government can do better in helping them recruit foreign labourers to work as cooks or waiters in the post-pandemic period.

They said they have no qualms with the government’s move to place the one-stop centre (OSC) for the recruitment of foreign workers under the Home Ministry, when it was previously placed under the Human Resources Ministry.

Last month, Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar announced the OSC would be under the Home Ministry.

Malaysian-Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) chief Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said the government should review the levy involving the extension of a foreign worker’s contract after 10 years as the charges are still high.

“We believe that by placing the OSC under the Home Ministry, the process will be more transparent, and new minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has promised to make things easier in the recruitment and return process.

“I think we can all agree that we no longer need middlemen for the recruitment process because there were so many irregularities happening.

“Our concern is on the age limit. We hope the government can increase the limit from 45 to 55.”

The current age range for foreign workers is between 18 and 45.

“Another thing is that the RM6,000 levy is still a huge amount for many of our members under Presma. Although the previous government had reduced it from RM10,000, we do hope this matter can be considered,” he said. 

The Pakatan Harapan government, in 2019, announced that the new levy from March 2019 to February 2020 would be RM6,000 for foreign workers in the services and construction sectors and RM2,000 for those in the agriculture and plantation sectors. 

The previous levy rate for foreign workers as announced in Budget 2019 was for the manufacturing sector (RM10,000), services (RM10,000), construction (RM10,000), agriculture (RM3,500) and plantation (RM3,500). 

On the government’s decision to place the OSC under the Home Ministry, Jawahar said the move is practical and proactive. 

Malaysian-Indian Restaurant Owners Association deputy president Krishnan Chinnachamy said as long as the recruitment process can be improved, his organisation has no problem with the Home Ministry taking over the OSC. 

He said the government can help restaurateurs who lack digital savviness to access the government portal to hire foreign workers. 

“As long as the government can improve the recruitment process, making it faster and easier for us to hire manpower, that would be sufficient for us. 

“Another matter is operators who find it hard to access the website. The ministry should try and develop a more user-friendly app to allow those with limited access to hire workers,” he added.

Recently, minister Saifuddin said employers applying for foreign workers from 15 countries will be able to get their applications approved within three days.

He said the Relaxation Plan for Foreign Workers Recruitment, which is limited to seven sectors, was agreed to by the cabinet.

The approved sectors are industrial, construction, plantation, agriculture, services, domestic workers, mining and quarrying, while the 15 countries are Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Johor Chef Association president Ang Siew Keong said while the environment has improved in terms of hiring foreign workers, he hopes the government can continue to help restaurateurs.

He said the government should increase the age limit as suggested by Jawahar. 

“It is much better now compared with during the pandemic and before the outbreak. It is easier now to recruit foreign workers and the process is much faster. 

“I do hope (the government) can continue to provide good service and get rid of unnecessary bureaucracy,” said Ang. – January 22, 2023.