Unfair to deny Malaysians to work overseas – Kula

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 – The Minister of Human Resources M Kula Segaran in a statement today said that the Memorandum of Cooperation to send blue-collared Malaysian workers to Japan is still being drafted and is not finalised at this moment. The statement was issued after the news received mixed response despite many Malaysians already working overseas.

“As far as you may already know, there are approximately 1 million Malaysians working abroad, 500,000 of whom work in Singapore alone.

“In that spirit, it is unfair to deny Malaysians good jobs overseas and it is foolish to think that Malaysians will not seek jobs overseas even if a formal deal was not reached.

“At least with a formal deal, there could be better protection and monitoring of these Malaysians,” Kula said in the statement.

Deal will be beneficial to workers and country

Working in Japan is expected to not only provide good starting wage but also the opportunity to gain high levels of experience in skill and technology that can be brought back to Malaysia when the workers return.

Kula also said that Malaysians will be exposed to a very professional workforce in Japan in which only the highest of standards and ethics will be accepted.

The country can also expect large sums of money being transferred from overseas by the workers mean for their families and loved ones. This will result in more disposable income spent in the country as well.

According to Kula, countries like Philippines and India are already reaping the benefits of exporting their talent overseas and Malaysia has to move in that direction if we are to embrace the automation that the Industrial Revolution 4.0 brings, where most jobs will evolve to more skillful and become more technical.

Opposition is expected

The opposition parties are expected to criticise the move, according to the statement.

“Barisan Nasional critics will naturally object to this move as BN has never created opportunity like this for Malaysians and often closed one eye when Malaysians made headlines for working illegally overseas. Do we still want that?

“Malaysia Baharu will soon consist of a highly skilled and well paid workforce, but before that we need to skill, re-skill and up-skill ourselves as well as venture into new terrain, learn good working ethics and increase our productivity as well as study their technology so that Malaysia can soon reap its benefits.

“At the same time, we are committed in bringing back highly skilled and experienced talent back to Malaysia to take it to greater heights.” Kula said further.

Kula also said that it will not be easy to qualify to work in Japan as only those assessed by the Japanese government as skilled and competent in Japanese language will be considered.

More details will be determined when the MOC is signed.

–NMT