I saw something disturbing when I was having dinner at a restaurant in SS2, PJ on Sunday. There was a family having dinner as well, but while they were enjoying their meal… their Indonesian maid was sitting behind them waiting for them to finish their dinner.
I am not sure how most people will think about this, but I find it inhuman. It won’t cost much to have the maid having dinner together… those people were treating their maids like slaves.
If you read some Indonesian papers, like The Jakarta Post for example; you would often read some strong reactions from Indonesians about how their countrymen (and women) are badly treated in Malaysia… and I can’t blame them for being overreacted sometimes.
I know some Malaysians will retaliate saying that Indonesians have caused massive social problems here, which is partly true. However, mind that it’s our government and our private sectors that brought them in… we asked for it.
Just yesterday I read that there are 1.87 million foreign workers in Malaysia; I can safely assume that majority of them are from Indonesia. If those illegal Indonesian workers are included we could have 1.5-2 million Indonesians in Malaysia… to be honest, I don’t feel comfortable with the numbers at all.
I am strongly against over-relying on foreign labours, but the government obviously doesn’t bother much about the future impact of those foreign workers here. Mind that it’s easy to get them here, difficult to send them home.
Appreciate your Indonesian maid
At the meantime, some Malaysians should stop treating Indonesian workers like rubbish. Indonesian maids in particular are being abused… when I say abuse, it doesn’t necessary means physical, but mental as well. Read my starting paragraph, fit in the shoes of that Indonesian maid… and how would we feel if we are treated that way?
I don’t need to read the news to know how badly Indonesian maids are treated in Malaysia; some close friends and relatives are showing cruelty in this matter… verbal abuse is common, and the maids are often over-working from 7-11.
Malaysians should really appreciate what their maids have done for them. They are lowly paid, but their existence has allowed many parents to go to work instead of having on of them staying home to take care of their kids. Even if it’s not for this reason, they sure help a lot in household matters… you won’t want to do their job even if you are paid double of what they are doing.
Appreciate your Indonesian maid. If you are in business and have hired some other Indonesian workers, be thankful as well.