Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
He said the Malaysian media would expose and not hide such cases as the majority
of Malaysians were concerned over ill-treatment and exploitation of foreign
workers by their employers, regardles from which country the workers came from.
<p>In the case of Indonesian housemaid, Nirmala Bonat, whose court case had dragged
on for three years and a court decision was still pending, the minister gave
an assurance that due legal process would go on and there was not even a single
case that had fizzled out just like that, he said when replying to queries from
local journalists here.</p>
<p>In May 2004, neighbours found Nirmala in the halfway of her employer’s apartment
suffering from severe burns to her chest, back and legs, She told them she had
been branded with an iron and scalded with boiling water by her employer.</p>
<p>Nirmala, then 19, had to be treated for second and third-degree burns. She
had claimed her employer, a wealthy Kuala Lumpur housewife, abused her for five
months. Her employer was charged in court over the assault. The case provoked
public outrage in Malaysia and Indonesia.</p>
<p>Earlier, speaking at a luncheon hosted to get-to-know editors-in-chief, management
of media organisations, television and radio stations in Indonesia, Zainuddin
said the Malaysian mass media would also report on crimes committed by foreigners
including Indonesians.</p>
<p>He said the media would not cover up such cases because if Malaysians committed
crimes in other countries, for instance, they come to Indonesia and stage robberies,
the Malaysian media would surely report the crimes.</p>
<p>Zainuddin, himself a veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of Utusan
Group, said he was once called up by the Indonesian Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur
who asked him why the Malaysian newspapers played up stories on crimes committed
by Indonesians in Malaysia.</p>
<p>"The explanation I gave was that if Malaysians were too commit robberies
in Indonesia, newspapers in Malaysia would surely publish that news and would
not cover up," he said, adding that criminals are unwanted people, should
not be protected and what more showing sympathy to them, irrespective of who
they are.</p>
<p>Zainuddin said the Indonesian media was free to report news from Malaysia but
must ensure the reports are not written in a manner that could arouse uneasiness
or give rise to prejudice among the readers.</p>
<p>He said Malaysian newspapers have also exposed many corruption cases, irregularities
and abandoned projects which the government had welcomed as inputs for the nation’w
well-being.</p>
<p>They have also learnt to exercise caution in publishing news stories or write-ups
that could create undue suspicion among the various races, he said.</p>
<p>"To me, the media has also played its role responsibly in contributing
to the stability and prosperity enjoyed by Malaysia today.</p>
<p>"They know their limits and respect the values in Malaysia’s plural society
that must be maintained and protected," he added.</p>
<p>– BERNAMA</p>
<p><i>Source: http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=270679</i>
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