Malaysian job cuts : Malaysia to send 100,000 Indonesian workers home

[DerekLeung]

Malaysia to send 100,000 Indonesian workers home
Posted: 04 February 2009 1505 hrs

Muslims in Kuala Lumpur, hiding behind veils of cloth.

KUALA LUMPUR: Nearly 100,000 Indonesian workers in Malaysia will be laid off and sent home by the end of the year as the economic downturn hits, a report said Wednesday.

Malaysia has already banned the hiring of new foreign workers in factories, stores and restaurants due to fears the economic crisis will lead to more job losses for locals.

Indonesia's ambassador to Malaysia, Da'i Bachtiar, told the New Straits Times that most of the lay-offs this year will be in the manufacturing sector.

He said that nearly 10,000 Indonesian workers in southern Johor state alone had already been sent home since the start of the year.

"We are expecting more workers to be laid off soon," Da'i told the daily.

The ambassador said there were nearly two million Indonesian workers in Malaysia, including 800,000 illegals, and that 300,000 were employed in the manufacturing sector.

Malaysia is preparing a second economic stimulus package, following a US$2.0 billion plan unveiled last November, to help companies and workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the global economic downturn.

Malaysia - one of Asia's largest importers of labour - last year hosted an estimated 2.2 million foreign workers, who are the mainstay of the plantation and manufacturing sectors.

However, the government has become concerned about the ramifications of having such a big migrant workforce and periodically tries to reduce it.

 

[metalslug]

10 January, 2009
Malaysia Not In Recession, not now !
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia is not facing a recession now despite the global financial meltdown that has badly hit the United States and Europe.

"We are not in recession now," he said.

"We are not having too much problem in the fourth quarter. Even the growth at two percent in the quarter, it would give us an average of more than five percent,"

"Definitely more than five percent," Abdullah said in responding to comments from former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the Malaysian economy was bad.

"I don't think that's right. Maybe he doesn't have all the information that we have. If it is really that bad, we would have be in recession by now," he said.

"For next year, we all know we are going to face hard times. We have to place ourselves to face all these. The RM7 billion stimulus package, which has been set aside, has gone down partially for immediate implementation," he added.

The government has projected the gross domestic product (GDP) for last year at five percent and this year at 3.5 percent.

The Malaysian economy expanded by 4.7 percent in the third quarter of 2008.

"That (package) will save us. That will prevent us from facing the threat that may come. It will also help us to continue with economic activities," Abdullah said, adding that the basic economy must be improved while real economy must not be affected.

"So far, our real economy is not affected (and) the stimulus package will help us," he said.

Asked whether the government would revise the 2009 Budget, Abdullah said that no revision was planned at the moment, "except for what has been announced".

"But we are on the lookout. If we need to make adjustments... we will make adjustments," he said.

"We have to be realistic. We cannot afford to be sitting down and in denial. This is not the time to bluff the rakyat. It is not the time to just say things to make the rakyat feel happy. If we say it is okay... it is okay. If we say it is under control... it is true that it is under control," he added.

Abdullah said that the government could not afford to say "a wrong thing and lie to the rakyat".

"We can't do that. We are a responsible government," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that at the moment the government has a serious responsibility to ensure that the country's economy remained resilient despite the current critical situation.

"As much as we can predict, we can look after the economy," he said.

On the possibility of a second stimulus package, Abdullah said that he could not give details at the moment.

"That (second stimulus package) is only indication that was given by Datuk (Seri) Najib (Tun Razak). That if necessary he (Najib) said there may be a second stimulus package," he said.

Najib, who is the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, said recently that a second stimulus package would be introduced if needed.


-- BERNAMA

 

[popdod]

What a sad news.

But they can come to Singapore.
We are in need of foreign talents.

:o