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Please stop the Bangla, Zahid! Posted: 30 May 2013 08:01 PM PDT My call to our new Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - please stop the arrival of about 30,000 Bangladesh workers next month, re-define the procedures and mechanism of importing foreign workers and find a formula to settle issues pertaining to a few million illegal immigrants in the country. The problem with us is that, we bring in more people to work in various sectors but we fell short of monitoring their exit once their permit expires. The immigration's job, as described by a politician, is only 'to stamp entry visa on foreign workers' passport upon their entry but never bothered to monitor their exit'. Very true, indeed. NEW DELHI: After much delay, workers from Bangladesh are set to arrive in Malaysia in batches starting from the second week of June, according to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). Dhaka Tribune reported that the decision came after Bangladesh's labour wing in Malaysia held a meeting on May 23 with Malaysian government officials. The report said sending of workers had been delayed because of the recent general election in Malaysia. A four-member delegation led by the BMET director-general Begum Shamsun Nahar is set to leave Dhaka yesterday to hold a joint technical committee meeting scheduled for May 28 in Malaysia. "We will discuss technical matters and how to expedite the migration process to Malaysia," said Nahar. She said Malaysia intended to recruit 30,000 Bangladeshi workers for its plantation sector under the arrangement between the governments of the two countries. The influx of foreign workers went out of control between the year 2000 and 2008 when outsourcing licenses were issued by the Home Ministry to too many companies, leading to millions of foreigners brought into the country. Many of them found themselves stranded in many parts of the country without job, posing big problems to the authorities and locals when some had to resort to unlawful action in order to survive. And that's when Malaysia's image abroad was badly affected. It also opened the floodgate to corruption when immigration and police personnel preyed on them. In my blog posting on November 25, 2012, I did write about the issue. Headlined 'Bangla come, Bangla stay, I said G to G agreement between Malaysia and Bangladesh must be  reviewed because there were still about 300,000 illegal Bangladesh people who could be 'recycled'. In other words, instead of bringing in fresh workers from Bangladesh, may as well we consider renewing the working permits for those who are already here, especially those below the age of 50 as they are already categorised as 'skill workers' and need no training in sectors where they were employed. They are part of the successful G to G arrangement by Hisham KDN and Subra Human Resource to solve the problem of 'worker shortage' faced by major plantation employers like Felda, Sime Darby, Tabung Haji and others. Hisham and Subra must be proud for such an arrangement with Dhaka. It reflects how benevolent Malaysia is when attending to the needs of the industry. Furthermore, the kickback from such a deal is not small... Appointed agents usually charge between RM1,000 and RM1,500 to bring a Bangladeshi to Malaysia but this new batch is free of any agent's reach. However, it is not free because their employers - apart from having to pay the levi and other charges - will surely have to allocate 'some' for those who bring them in... The problem with KDN and other ministries is that, they don't listen to the ground. They love the credit so much for being able to cater to demands of the industry. They couldn't be bothered what will happen to the workers once their contract ends. There are about 300,000 'stranded' Bangladeshis in the country, with no proper job and contract. Why? Because they are part of the 1,000,000 workers brought in from Bangladesh more than 15 years ago to work in various sectors in Malaysia. Most of them are now aged 45 and above, some hiding in remote areas because their visa, permit and passport are no longer valid. Their High Commission in Kuala Lumpur is having a big problem to identify, register and help them go home. I do hope the Home Ministry, under Zahid will look into this matter seriously. Bringing in more foreign workers will of course help our industries but the adverse social impact will be for the rakyat to bear. Let's hope in five or 10 years from now, we don't need another Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) like the one set up in Sabah to address the problems in Peninsular.

Screwed up! Posted: 30 May 2013 05:58 AM PDT "DAP members who did not receive the notice were denied the right to vote and choose the leaders they wanted at the congress" - ROS director-general Abdul Rahman Othman. It other words, there were attempts by certain quarters to pool only those 'approved by the top leadership' into the Central Executive Committee (CEC). The 'qualified but unwanted ones' found themselves being axed in advance. So much of a so-called democratic party! KUALA LUMPUR: Investigations by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) found many DAP members who were eligible to attend its national congress on Dec 15 last year, did not receive notice, said ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman. He said the finding was made after investigations were made on complaints by DAP members on not being given the notice. "DAP members who did not receive the notice were denied the right to vote and choose the leaders they wanted at the congress," he said in a statement on Thursday. In the statement, Abdul Rahman also stated that ROS would continue investigations on other issues raised by complainants, and go through all documents submitted before arriving at a decision on the validity of the congress based on the Societies Act 1966. The election of DAP's Central Executive Committee (CEC) at the congress became a bone of contention after complaints were lodged by various members that the party did not give notice on it to 753 delegates who were valid voters. - Bernama In the past five months, the ROS had interviewed six complainants and several office-bearers. The registrar had also received a detailed document from party election director Pooi Weng Keong and party strategist Ong Kian Ming. The ROS had also met DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng in Penang to discuss the matter last month. The ROS sent a letter to DAP on April 17 as a notification that the central executive committee (CEC) elected in December last year was not recognised. While Guan Eng promised a full cooperation, some party leaders took it lightly. Let's wait for the investigation to conclude. I hope DAP remains 'democratic'... but will the leaders practice it?

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