1. Introduction There are two categories of the foreign labor in Malaysia: expatriates and foreign workers. The former refers to those who work as p

There are two categories of the foreign labor in Malaysia: expatriates and foreign workers. The former refers to those who work as professional, technical, administrative and managerial staff and are highly educated, trained in their specific filed and have some working experience. They numbered just under 75,000 in mid-2001. The latter refers to the mostly semi-skilled and unskilled workers involved in lowly ranked job categories spurned by local workers, the so-called 3D (dirty, dangerous, degrading) jobs. There is no accurate estimate of the number of foreign workers in Malaysia as different sources have different estimates. For example, 1985 estimated of 500,000, over 1 million for early 1990s and estimated that there were 1.7 million in 1995. According to official estimates, there were 290,000 foreign workers in 1990, 852,000 in 1995 and 749,000 in 2000. There were also substantial numbers of illegal workers. Some information reported that the authorities found about 1.2 million in Peninsular Malaysia alone between 1991 and 1996. Although the Asian Crisis resulted in workers being retrenched from certain sub-sectors, particularly construction, many have been re-deployed to other sectors which were still experiencing labor shortages, such as some sub-sectors in manufacturing and services sectors as well as the agriculture sector.

In the face of retrenchments and rising unemployment since the advent of the Crisis, the large presence of foreign workers became a major issue of concern. Foreign workers are mostly found in the manufacturing, plantation and construction sectors as well as working as domestic helpers. However, the sharp contraction in the construction sector plunged the number to just over 60,000 in January 2002. When unemployment began to creep up again in the new millennium, the impact of foreign workers on the unemployment opportunities of local workers came to be questioned. Given the fact that locals are not interested in the 3D jobs, Malaysia’s dependence on foreign workers will continue, particularly as the government is trying to rejuvenate the agriculture sector as one of its engines of growth. Malaysian workers can try to replace them in some of the most pleasant job categories, such as production workers and operators in the manufacturing sector. However there are some argued that, while manufacturing employers claim that they are unable to find local workers, it is possible that discriminatory wages may have contributed to their preference for foreign workers. Moreover, some employers view these workers as more reliable, disciplined, productive and easily controlled. As for expatriates, their involvement in the Malaysia labor market is also necessary in the course of attracting FDI, as foreign investors prefer to hire workers from their respective countries or those with appropriate levels of knowledge and skill.


Current situation all around the world including Malaysia especially economic downturn, forced our local industrial sector choose by using foreign worker rather than used local worker. Why it’s happened like that? From the study, we can know that some advantage that we can seeing came from by using the foreign worker, one of the cause is, local industrial sector can paid them more cheaply rather than local worker. Effect form the economic crisis, some industrial sector has a problem in their project progress like delay of the project, minimize in work force, and financial problem. By using the foreign worker, they can cover over half of the work and at the same time foreign worker only paid in small salary rather local worker. By using the foreign worker, local industrial sector can save their financial and at the same time they can use much more work force from the foreign worker.

The influx of foreign workers into Malaysia is not a new phenomenon. Looking at the concern issues, it is a task for the Malaysia government to search for mechanism in order to manage and control this phenomenon before it become worse. From a domestic perspective, there are several ways and strategies the Malaysia government may take to deal with this problem. To deter foreign workers from becoming involved in criminal activities, the Malaysia government should make an official agreement with the host countries that only labors with no criminal record can be considered for employment in Malaysia. Before they arrive in this country, a through briefing concerning the laws, values and culture and social aspects should be given to those workers so that a general awareness concerning what they can and cannot do in Malaysia may be known to them. It is also important to issue a special identity card for them which record their names, country of origin and other related information. That particular card must wear or carried with them at all times. In doing so, it will be easier for the enforcement departments to monitor their movement and take necessary action should the condition warrant.

Secondly, inn terms of health, a compulsory medical examination must be done twice. Once in their country of origin and again when they reach at Malaysia. A weekly or monthly routine medical check up should also be organized by local hospitals in cooperation with employers. Health record must be kept systematically, so that any fatal disease may be monitored and prompt action taken. The cost of this medical examination must be borne by the employers. Thirdly, in order to solve the problem of illegal settlements employers in Malaysia must be obligated to provide them with accommodation complete with basic facilities. When these provided, cases of government and local land trespasses will not occur. It must be understood that as long as the workers are provided with a place to stay then there is no need for them to find accommodations in local villages or to trespass on private property. Fourthly, both government involved must work together to maintain their borders to stop any illegal incurious. This manner of cooperation preserves border security. However, all the aforementioned suggestions cannot be successfully implemented if society itself refuses to cooperate. Indeed the locals are also engaged in smuggling workers from outside Malaysia to supply local industries which are desperately in need of laborer. Smuggling foreign workers into Malaysia has become a very profitable business and has attracted many locals.



As long as these activities take place, efforts by the government and concerned organizations will fail. In some cases, locals themselves become protectors of illegal foreign workers by not reporting their presence to the authorities. Their action encourages the foreigners to look at Malaysia as their future place to live because of the hospitality shown by the locals themselves. In orders for the control foreign workers to succeed, government must have a sense of commitment by showing responsibility in carrying out their duties. All institutions, including social group, political parties showing and non governmental organization must find a mechanism to deal with this problem. This is no longer a problem, for the government of the day; the issue of foreign workers has becoming a national problem.

The government can establish management system capable of updating concerning the training or workers by emphasizing the efficiency and quality of productivity rather the physical number of laborers. The industrial and manufacturing sectors in future should focus more methods and production system which are not labor intensive. Hence, the dependence on foreign workers will be reduced. The education system must be reformed as well. The subject taught in schools and higher institutions must be relevant, not only to the needs of the current economy but also to the aspirations of the leadership. What Malaysia needs is laborers with unlimited skills relevant to any sector and industry.

We should look to the needs of foreign worker at different perspective. Since there are certain sectors which are highly demanded, it will help to generate our economic growth. If we compare the total population of Malaysia with the demand for labor in the current market, it is obvious that Malaysia is still in need of foreign workers in order to maintain economic growth. The construction, plantation and services sectors at the moment are highly dependant upon foreign labor. The influx of foreign workers is inevitable. It will take time to satisfy the demand for labor and supply. The present foreign workers are still relevant in terms of Malaysia economic interest. But at the same time local should change their mind set of being choosing selecting only for glamorous jobs..Local should fight back by showing their interest in doing any kind of job.