RESTAURATEURS have reacted with shock to the abrupt announcement that only local cooks can be employed by eateries come January 1 and want Putrajaya to hear their views first before making a final decision.

Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association president Ayoob Khan Muhamad Yakub described the announcement yesterday by Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran as “shocking and horrific”.

“It is never an easy task to hire local workers for mamak (Indian Muslim) restaurants,” Ayoob was quoted as saying by The Star.

He said most Indian Muslim restaurants in Malaysia hired cooks from southern India as their wages were reasonable and already knew the recipes requires. Local cooks would take a longer time to train, he added.

The Malaysia-Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors General Association president Ho Su Mong was also against the minister’s decision, saying it took a long time to train a cook to master certain skills.

Hiring only local cooks was not feasible for as there was also not enough local talent to fill positions, in addition to the high salary demands.

“In Johor Baru, coffee shop owners are offering RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month but you still can’t get locals as they want to go to Singapore where they can get higher pay,” Ho was quoted as saying.

Persatuan Restoran Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan Ku Su Shin Choong Hung secretary-general Datuk Ringo Kaw told The Star that the Government should engage with all stakeholders first.

He said the rule would affect the food and beverage business as it would drive up costs.

Data from the Home Ministry from 2002 to 2017 showed a jump of 1.06 million to 1.8 million foreign workers, or which some 250,000 are working in the service sector, which includes restaurants. – June 23, 2018