Although on April 1 this year Malaysia and Indonesia inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic workers, it is unlikely that they will be arriving in Malaysia anytime soon.
Families needing a maid are advised to wait for at least another three months despite earlier talk swirling around that 10,000 Indonesian maids would be arriving in the country after Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
National Association of Human Resources Malaysia (Pusma) attributed this to factors such as the tedious application process and teething problems with the online application system run by the Ministry of Human Resources.
Other factors cited by Pusma include that the required stamp of approval from the Indonesian government for the Indonesian agencies has yet to be expedited and these agents are just in the process of registering applications.
The Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia also echoed similar sentiments as Pusma and said the One Channel System (OCS) online application for Indonesian maids is not in place for this purpose.
A job agency consultant said an alternative is to hire Sri Lankan maids but the FWCMS system to hire these maids is not working. But Malaysians cite that Indonesian maids are their preferred choice.
-HR HUB
