Malaysia, Indonesia agree on 'one maid-one task'

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 7  -- Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to implement the concept of 'one maid-one task', stating that an Indonesian domestic servant (PDI) can work in a household of no more than six family members, said the Ministry of Human Resources (KSM).

In a statement today, KSM said the agreement was reached at a meeting between Human Resources Minister (MoHR) Datuk Seri M. Saravanan and his counterpart Ida Fauziy in Indonesia.

In this regard, the Malaysia-Indonesia Technical Committee Meeting on the Memorandum of Understanding on Recruitment and Placement of Indonesian Domestic Workers (MoU PDI) will be held on Dec 14 to finalise details of the matter, and enable both parties to reach an agreement so that the PDI MOU can be signed as early as January, 2022.

The MoHR statement issued in conjunction with Saravanan's meeting with the Indonesian Minister of Manpower said the issue of the ‘One-Channel System’ had also been agreed between the two ministers to enable effective monitoring of PDI's maid entry into Malaysia.

Saravanan paid a working visit to Jakarta, Indonesia from Sunday (Dec 5) until today following the working visit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to Indonesia last month (Nov 9-12).

At a joint press conference with Ismail Sabri and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in conjunction with the visit, they expressed their commitment to expedite the signing of the PDI MoU to meet the needs and demands of employers in Malaysia.

The PDI MoU was signed for the first time on May 13, 2006 in Bali, and subsequently, the Protocol to Amend the PDI MoU was signed on May 31, 2011 in Bandung -- which expired on May 30, 2016.

Saravanan said the signing of the PDI MoU needed to be implemented immediately as Indonesia would only allow the entry of Indonesian Manpower (TKI) into Malaysia for the plantation sector after the PDI MoU was finalised.

The Cabinet meetings on April 7 and Nov 12, 2021 had agreed on the entry of foreign workers in the plantation sector into Malaysia as a special exception, he said.

Meanwhile, KSM said Indonesia welcomed the implementation of the Working for Workers (WFW) mobile application as a platform for complaints on labour issues and requested that the digital application be used effectively to receive complaints from TKIs and PDIs in Malaysia.

As of Oct 5, the number of complaints received in the application was 12,132 cases where the main complaints were related to unpaid salaries, late payment of salaries and illegal salary deductions.

-- BERNAMA