On Friday, June 22, Human Resource Minister, M. Kulasegaran stated that all restaurants serving Malaysian food are not allowed to hire foreign cooks starting January 2019. This announcement has invited a lot mixed reaction from the public.
Some are very supportive of the announcement:
While others express their disagreement and worries:
In light of all the feedbacks, the HR Minister today (Saturday, June 23) clarified in an interview with The Star that the announcement was only a suggestion and the ministry will be reasonable to restaurant owners and food operator in getting them to hire local cooks.
“We will engage with the various stakeholders before the final process,” he said.
The announced deadline was there to act as a cut off period to make a final decision. He added that the local cooks requirement is only applicable to ”ordinary local food” and does not apply to foreign food restaurants, high-end restaurants and five-star hotels because all of these need specialised cooks.
Source: tripsavvy
He further explained that there is actually an existing by-law that hawkers must be Malaysian. It is stated under the Licensing of Hawkers (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) By-Laws 2016, all KL hawkers must be Malaysian and no foreign workers are allowed to be employed.
“We just want it to be properly regulated, and have the same laws applied to all stated. We want to be consistent,” said Kulasegaran in his interview with The Star.
In a spand of 15 years, there is dramatic increase of foreign workers, from 1.06 million to 1.8 million as recorded by the Home Ministry.
He stated,
“We want to reduce the dependency on foreign workers.”
He further supported his suggestion because the policy is needed to reduce the number of foreign workers in the country.
Can this policy be implemented or it is doomed for failure? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below!
Also read: Employers Are NOT Allowed to Hire Foreign Cooks Starting Jan 2019, Says HR Minister
