Foreigners are no longer allowed to apply for hawker licenses in Selangor, according to Rodziah Ismail, the state Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman.
Those who are married to Malaysians are no exception.
“We will not allow it even if the foreigner is the husband or wife (of a Malaysian),” said Rodziah in a statement recorded by the Star.
Prior to this, Selangor passed legislation to stop foreigners from possessing business licenses, running temporary businesses or being employed by these businesses. Rodziah said this new ruling was added to address the current lack of clarity in the system which issues business licenses for the hawking industry.
“There has to be the name of a Malaysian citizen,” she said. According to the chairman, applying for business licenses from local authorities requires three conditions to be met:
- Licence must be issued by Malaysian citizen
- Nominees cannot exceed a time frame of three months
- Any workers employed must be Malaysians and registered with the authorities
“We will use a biometric system and registration cannot be done by anyone other than the person named (in the license) or the (registered) workers,” said Rodziah.
As hawkers are under the jurisdiction of the local authorities, Rodziah said hawkers had to follow the current change in law. Restaurants, on the other hand, fall under the Home Ministry.
Previously, the Selangor government said it would not issue business licenses to foreigners for SMEs and Pasar Malam spots unless they registered their companies with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) with an original passport and a business visa.
Nonetheless, both groups of documented and undocumented foreigners form quite a number in Malaysia’s workforce. According to The Straits Times, there are an estimated 2.3 million registered foreign workers while 3 million more migrants work in Malaysia illegally.
What do you guys think of this new ruling?
Also read: Selangor Govt Will Not Issue Business Licences To Foreigners for SMEs and Night Market Spots
