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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia's trouble with migrants |
| 2005-02-14 |
| A touch of Saudi-itis? Now it is Indonesians and Filipinos who fill the factories, building sites and plantations. "Around 11% of the workforce are foreigners," said Shamsuddin Bardin, director of the Malaysian Employers Federation. Their labour has helped Malaysia to build up the region's most successful economy after Singapore. Some argue that foreign workers are taking jobs away from Malaysians. But unemployment is low and falling - and is currently just 3.5%. "The foreign workers do the three D jobs that Malaysians don't want - dirty, dangerous and difficult - especially working on plantations and in construction," said Mr Shamsuddin. Even young male Malay graduates, a group amongst which there is a shockingly high rate of unemployment, will not take the jobs the illegal workers do. For 30 years or more, Malaysia has given economic privileges to the Malay community to help it win a more proportionate share of the economy. But even former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the great champion of Malay rights, ended his 22 years as premier frustrated that, rather than develop a work ethic, many Malays had simply developed a sense of entitlement. Middle-class Westerners might be happy to slum it for a few years before settling into a career, but their Malaysian counterparts are far less willing to get their fingers dirty. "That is not our culture yet," said Mr Shamsuddin. "Malaysians who've been through tertiary education want to go straight into middle management. Even those with no degree don't want to take up low-paid jobs." |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #3 |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-02-14 7:15:47 PM |
| #2 Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the great champion of Malay rights, ended his 22 years as premier frustrated that, rather than develop a work ethic, many Malays had simply developed a sense of entitlement. 22 years, and he still was clueless... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-02-14 6:09:56 PM |
| #1 Malays had simply developed a sense of entitlement they learned it from their saudi, kuwaiti, etc. brothers. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2005-02-14 4:05:37 PM |