GOPENG, July 9 — Newly recruited domestic helpers from Indonesia have been arriving in the country, starting early this month, said Human Resources Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

He said that most employers in Malaysia preferred to employ domestic helpers from Indonesia, compared with other countries such as Cambodia and Bangladesh.

"The majority of employers prefer Indonesian domestic helpers. Some have been brought in but in terms of the number of workers, it needs to be checked with the Home Ministry (KDN), because the Ministry of Human Resources only processes documents and management,” he said.

Saravanan, who is also Tapah Member of Parliament, said this when met by reporters after attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the building of the Gopeng branch of Tamil Youth Bell Club, here today.

On June 7, Saravanan was reported to have said that the issue of hiring foreign workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Cambodia was expected to be resolved in the near future.

Meanwhile, he said his ministry would present a proposal to the cabinet, related to a memorandum of understanding (MoU), to work with Cambodia for the purpose of bringing domestic workers from that country.

"We are still in the process and it will take time, but we are trying to speed it up. I will present the proposed MoU to the Cabinet to hire foreign workers, especially domestic workers. In Cambodia there are Muslim maids from the Champa group who have shown interest,” he said.

He added that he had held discussions with the Cambodian government on the cooperation, and they would be given the opportunity to work in the country in the near future.

Asked whether the recruitment process for foreign workers was affected following the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation into allegations of irregularities in the selection of 25 Bangladeshi companies as agents, including Bestinet, which supplies the Foreign Worker Centralised Management System (FWCMS), Saravanan said that they were unrelated.

"It has nothing to do with the MACC’s investigation into Bestinet because my ministry usually follows the rules even though the system used is obtained through the Home Ministry; we just share the system and it does not cause anything to be affected.

"Perhaps Bestinet is busy cooperating with the MACC and there may be a slight delay, but overall there is no effect,” he said. — Bernama