Maid One Day Off: Knee-jerk Reaction

I first wrote briefly about this issue on last Thursday, 18^th June but since it continues to attract a lot of media attention, I thought I should elaborate on this matter.

Ever since the Minister of Human Resource suggested giving maids a one-day off, there has been an ongoing debate about the merits and the demerits of giving the maids a one-day off a week. In principle, it sounds good. As an employee, they are entitled to one-day off per week. However, the suggestion raises more questions than answers. Hence, it looks as if it is a knee jerk reaction from the Ministry of Human Resource.

While we have to safe guard the interest of the employee, we should not forget that the interest of the employers should also be protected. There are 2 sides of the coin. Employers will have horror stories to tell you about their domestic maid.

There are about 250,000 to 300,000 maids in our country. Most of the maids are from Indonesia with a small number from Myanmar, Bangladesh and Philippines. Any Indonesian maid can easily blend into our society because of the similarities in language, food and facial look. Last year, I am given to understand that more than 10,000 maids ran away from their employers for various reasons and they cannot be traced. Cases of maid been abused numbered about 50 last year. While no maid should be abused, it is obvious that the number of maids that are abused are small in numbers, but because of the adverse publicity generated, it gives the impression that Malaysian employers are not humane. The press doesn’t highlight the 10,000 domestic helpers who just disappeared into the thin air. Hence, we have to have a balance picture of the domestic maids in this country.

If the one-day off is really implemented, who is to enforce this? It will have to involve many Ministries, from Human Resource to the Immigration and the Police just to enforce this bearing in mind that there are many maids who are illegal. The risk of maids absconding will definitely go up. Then there is this question that the maid on the day off will definitely need to go out. Their outside friends will be a cause of worry to the employers. I am one of those victims where my maid’s boyfriend having gained access to my house, stole whatever they can lay their hands on while we were away.

Malaysians should not overreact to cases of abused maid. The sick employer will have to face the full forces of the law. Hence, any legislation should also take into consideration the interest of the employers. It should look into the question of enforcement. Without enforcement, the legislation will just be good on paper. Maid agency can play a more prominent role in helping to monitor the domestic maid. They are the one who are the first line of contact with the domestic maid.

As usual, Indonesia has threatened not to send maid to our country. If I’ve not forgotten, this is not the first and definitely not going to be the last that Indonesia has threatened Malaysia. A lot of Indonesians find Malaysia an ideal place to stay, either legally or illegally.

Indonesia faces double-digit unemployment figure. Foreign remittance by its citizens working overseas constitutes a substantial portion of the country’s direct revenue. Hence, Indonesia’s statement is more like political posturing, which is unlikely to happen.

自从人力与资源部建议强制雇主给女佣一天周假以来，各造陆续针对此建议的正负两面展开激辩。原则上，此建议听起来不错。身为雇员应该享有一天周假。然而，这项建议却挑起了更多问题。人资部的建议，在更大的层面上被视为人资部的膝跳反应。

我们照顾雇员的利益之余，也要保护雇主的利益。凡事一体两面，许多聘雇外国女佣的雇主，都有过骇人听闻的遭遇。

我国目前有25万至30万名外国女佣，大部分来自印尼，部分来自缅甸、巴基斯坦及菲律宾。基于语言、饮食习惯甚至样貌相似，印尼女佣容易融入我国社会。据我了解，去年共有一万名外国女佣，因各种原因逃离雇主家，不知去向。同年间，虐待女佣的个案约50宗。雇主当然不能虐待女佣，但显然的，国内发生的虐待女佣个案数目相对不高，却因负面宣传而让外界留下“大马雇主不人道”的恶劣印象。至于一万宗女佣逃走的个案，却未获媒体高度重视和报导。因此，我们需要给有关行业一个平衡的画面。

话说回来，如果一天固定周假的建议敲定落实，该由谁负责执行？因为它将涉及多个部门：人资部、移民厅甚至警方，别忘记了我国有许多非法女佣。雇主面对女佣潜逃的风险也相应增加。女佣在休假日外出，他们在外的朋友是雇主的忧虑。我家聘请女佣就曾有过不愉快的经验。曾有一位女佣在外认识了男友，其男友趁我们外出时潜入家中行窃。

我认为，大马人民不应对虐待女佣的事件反应过敏。那些伤害女佣的雇主当然得接受法律制裁。但是，任何条例也须顾及雇主的利益，并且要加以执行，否则只沦为纸上谈兵。与此同时，女佣代理中心应该发挥监督的角色，因为他们是首个与受聘女佣接触的单位。

一如既往，印尼威胁将停止输出女佣。如果没记错，这并非该国首次发出如此声明，相信这也不会是最后一次。对印尼女佣而言，大马是一个理想的居住地方，不管是合法或非法逗留。

目前，印尼面对双倍的失业率。印尼公民出国工作的汇款，占了该国直接收入的极大部分。因此，印尼政府的声明看起来只是一种政治姿态，不太可能会发生。