By IANS
Kuala Lumpur : The controversy over the banning of Indian workers in Malaysia was sparked after a religious group claimed Hindu priests and temple workers were being denied permission to work in the Muslim-majority nation, a media report said Wednesday.
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Taoism (MCCBCHT) says the immigration department has stopped issuing work permits to foreign priests, temple musicians and sculptors.
The organization has urged the Malaysian government to reconsider a decision to stop issuing permits to priests and other temple workers, The Star reported Wednesday.
When asked about the appeal, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said: “They can send a letter to me. I’ll see what they have written.”
MCCBCHT president A. Vaithilingam said further enquiries by parties showed that the restriction extended to all Indian nationals.
He said the department had also given final renewal permits of six months for priests, three months for temple musicians, and one week for sculptors, after which they would have to leave the country.
“This decision has caught us by surprise. After all there are so few priests, musicians and sculptors here. They are only a tiny dot out of the few hundred thousand Indian workers based in Malaysia,” Vaithilingam said.
He estimated that there were about 180 Hindu priests, 100 musicians and about 200 to 300 sculptors working here.
“This is an unprecedented move as the department had previously always had discussions with the council before any change in the system,” he said.
Immigration department director general Wahid Mohamad Don declined to comment on the issue, saying it was a policy matter that should be referred to the home affairs ministry, The New Straits Times reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak Tuesday announced that foreign workers would no longer be allowed to serve customers directly at any Malaysian airport.
“Only locals can provide services that call for direct contact with customers. We want these services, including those at the Kuala Lumpur international airport, to be done by locals,” he said at a press conference.
Asked when the ruling would be enforced, Najib said it should be done “as soon as possible”.
“But we do note that they have to make some adjustments as currently, there are foreigners being employed for such jobs,” he said.
Home Affairs Minister Mohamad Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the government’s policy was that only locals should serve as front liners in hotels and that all airports should practise a similar policy.
Malaysian Minister S. Samy Vellu, who is attending the sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi, Tuesday denied that his country has banned the recruitment of Indian workers.
Vellu’s clarification came hours after international wire services reported that Malaysia, hit by ethnic Indian protests, had banned the recruitment of all workers, professionals included, from India and Bangladesh, two countries which account for a large group of expatriate workers.
The reports had cast a shadow over the Pravasi Divas, India’s annual conclave to engage with its 25 million diaspora in over 130 countries. Malaysia has the largest delegation of 130 members, led by Vellu, a frequent visitor to India.
News reports from Kuala Lumpur earlier quoted an unnamed home ministry official as saying that the cabinet decided to suspend the recruitment of workers from India and Bangladesh about two weeks ago.
According to the reports, the ban would have taken effect from Dec 31, 2007.
The official went on to say that existing workers from the two countries would not have their work permits renewed and that the ban applied to all categories, including professionals. The reports also said that other ministry officials too confirmed the ban but did not give a reason.
It wasn’t clear if the reported ban – denied in New Delhi by minister Vellu and not reported by Malaysian online newspapers until the evening – was linked to recent street protests by Malaysians of Tamil origin alleging discrimination by the Malay-dominated government.
Indians make up about eight percent of the two million registered foreign workers in Malaysia. They are mainly employed in the construction, IT and financial services industries in the Southeast Asian country.