THE Human Resource Ministry wants all restaurants in the country to hire only locals as cooks from January 1, said Minister M. Kula Segaran. 

He said all operators would be given up to the end of the year to ensure only local cooks work in their restaurants.

He said the regulation on permiting only locals as cooks in all restaurants would be effective on January 1.  

“So we want locals to be employed as cooks. There will be no compromise… we are giving you notice to do it by December 31,” he told Bernama News Channel in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Earlier, Kula Segaran held a meeting with the Indian Restaurant Operators Association (Prisma).

He said the ministry would hold more meetings with Prisma as well as the Indian Muslim Restaurant Operators Association (Presma) soon on hiring local cooks in restaurants.

Kula Segaran said the move would reduce dependence of restaurants on foreign labour and ensure the quality of food.

He said the ministry would follow the footstep of the Penang state government in banning foreigners as cooks in food shops, restaurants as well as stalls around the island.   

Since 2014, the Penang state government prohibited foreigners to work as cooks at hawker stalls in the effort to protect national food heritage.

Commenting on the statement, Prisma president P. Muthusamy said the decision was quite shocking and would given major implications to operators.

“In the past few years, we have been facing problems of manpower. In fact more than 500 restaurants had closed during the period due to the shortage of workers.” 

Muthusamy hopes the ministry will hold further discussions with food shop operators nationwide before implementing the decision.

Presma president Ayub Khan said the problem of workers in restaurants was getting more serious as locals do not want to work in restaurants.

“We advertised, offering a salary of up to RM2,500, but no one came. It is not easy to find local workers for restaurants.” – Bernama, June 22, 2018.