"Malaysia bans foreign labor at airports"

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Malaysia bans foreign labor at airports
BusinessWeek


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - All major airports in Malaysia will be barred from
employing foreign workers, in what the government said Tuesday was a plan to
ensure that tourists are not taken aback on being greeted by a sea of
non-Malaysian faces on arrival.

A Cabinet committee on tourism has ruled that the main Kuala Lumpur
International Airport and other key hubs in the country must only hire
Malaysian workers, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by
the national news agency Bernama.

"We will issue rulings to (airport operator) Malaysia Airports to ensure
that the workers are Malaysian citizens," he said in the report, adding that
airports need to comply with the ruling as soon as possible.

An aide to Najib confirmed his comments.

The ruling was in response to complaints by tourists that the high presence
of foreign workers in the country's airports made them feel they have landed
in a country other than Malaysia, said the aide. He spoke on condition of
anonymity, citing ministry rules.

"Tourists feel they are in a foreign land when they arrive in Malaysia. The
government wants a Malaysian face to greet tourists at the airport, not a
foreign face," the aide said.

The Malaysia Airlines' Employee Union said last year that an estimated 1,000
foreigners, mostly from Bangladesh and some from Nepal and Pakistan, are
working for the flag carrier at the KLIA. Most are employed as porters,
baggage handlers and cleaners.

Hundreds more are hired by companies appointed to provide airport services
because foreigners can be paid less.

KLIA officials have said that airline and other airport ground services are
forced to recruit foreigners because domestic workers are unreliable, change
jobs too often and demand higher salaries.

Malaysia relies heavily on foreigners for menial work and is one of
Southeast Asia's top labor markets, with 2.2 million registered migrant
workers out of its 11 million work force. Hundreds of thousands more work
illegally in the country.

It is not clear how the government intends to fill the jobs at the airport
given the paucity of local workers.

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