Dear Kula,
thanks for hitting the news. I've been trying to reach your special committee on foreign workers, but to no avail, so in response to that 3D-quip, let me try and get some publication to put this out there for everyone. Businesses can't simply pay higher wages unless they can raise prices of products - happiness is unlimited, but money is not. We know that Malaysians are willing to do difficult work, and that is not the problem with Malaysia.
The Real Problem: some fundamental economic parameters
The problem is that for the same amount of wages, an expatriate is willing to do more than a Malaysian in almost any role. This is because the quality of life in Malaysia (read: public amenities and infrastructure) is better than the qualit[ies] of life in the countries where many expatriates come from - these expatriates who are very competitive in Malaysia, and Malaysia has proven to be very competitive in attracting their talents. In this letter, I will use "expatriate," and "foreign worker," to mean the same thing.
Of course, many of these expatriates came into Malaysia under the bad governance of past administrations, but that is of no significant at this point in history. So much ill has been wrought by administrations since the 1970s, that Malaysia's economy has become highly dependent on expatriate labour inputs. You already know this. No matter how it is politicised, we cannot simply kick out all the illegal expatriates overnight because it would cripple our economy.
The quality of life in some other countries is also higher than in Malaysia, and so Malaysians migrate there to work - those Malaysians who are too competitive for Malaysia, and there it is quite foolish for any of us to be sentimentally pining, begging, or hoping for their contributions to return. Malaysia's quality of life is unfortunately not competitive enough to retain their talents. Forget it. We need to return focus to the members of society who have committed to delivering value in Malaysia - we need to naturalise more immigrants. This is in-character for our nation.
A Make-believe Solution: new Malaysians in the new Malaysia
My personal request is that we begin by expanding the recent move that now provides "legal" expatriates with mandatory SOCSO benefits. The policy as it stands appears to leave out "illegal" expatriates. But the point of SOCSO is to provide a safety net for the most vulnerable members of society, and so I would like to ask that we extend mandatory SOCSO coverage to "illegal" expatriates as well. This would include those who entered the country illegally, as well as those who entered the country legally but work in jobs which they are not officially registered in. The first obvious criticism is of my suggestion would be that no employer wants to incriminate themselves by registering their illegal expatriate labour with SOCSO - but here is a roadmap for mutual benefit:
Employers of illegal expatriate workers love their staff as much as anyone loves their colleagues. We all want our friends to be safe, and healthy, regardless of where they are from, and regardless of where they are going. Allowing employers to register their illegal expatriate labour for SOCSO benefits improves the data collection capabilities of the federal government. Furthermore, it provides a "point of entry," for new protocols/tracks that can be enacted to naturalise any expatriates who already deliver value to Malaysians, identifying their skillsets, and integrating their gifts with those of natural born citizens over decades. We need plans that span decades - reactionary short-term solutions will not build this nation well. We don't have to give expatriates blue NRICs right away - we already have a huge backlog of red and non-NRIC residents who deserve to go first to the first-class of citizenship. Nevertheless, a roadmap spanning five to twenty years may be appropriate for properly integrate expatriate talent into Malaysian society.
While this is being addressed, we must also tighten our borders and improve labour import protocols to avoid repeating mistakes we have made in the past.
Some Context
I've been working very closely with foreign workers since 2015. I've also been working very closely with the local (staff) competitors for the same amount of time. Over this period, I've observed in detail the economies of what they are each able to deliver at the workplace on a minute to minute, day to day, and year to year basis. At this moment, all over Malaysia, various people are making lives better for Malaysian citizens - we are not all Malaysian citizens who make Malaysian lives better. Some of us came a very long way just to be here. It is high time that expatriate workers are recognised for their contributions to the Malaysian economy.
Please bear with me, as I'm not a public policy professional, and so my data is very limited. I've been trying to form a clear view on policies for how Malaysia should work with these people since June 4. As a natural born Malaysian, 35 years of age, I personally do "3D" work daily - cleaning toilets, wiring appliances, enforcing sleep and waking twice a day, in order to balance the needs of all the stakeholders in my environment. I make less than a quarter of what I did at my previous job in an office - I do my job because I plan fastidiously to cram my schedule with risks and opportunities. Yet most of my time is spent enabling other people to do more - not only do I do this for my staff, but my entire business is geared to do this for society.
Finally, let me say in my Trumpiest voice that I'm a huge fan of your work. I love the hat. It's a great hat, and I hope you help us all, residents of Malaysia, to optimise the labour supply chain. I think co-operation with the Ministers of Education, Home Affairs, etc. is crucial, but I'll comment on those tangents some other time.
Sincerely,
