PETALING JAYA: After living without a foreign domestic helper for two years, a bank manager is desperate to hire one and does not mind paying the extra charges.

       The mother of a few children who wished to be known as Laj, 41, has been looking for a maid before the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown but after two years, she has yet to find a replacement.

       “Our Indonesian domestic helper quit in the middle of 2020. It is 2022 now and we still could not get a foreign helper.

       “She has been wanting to quit in late 2019 so we have been looking for a new one ever since.

       “Now that I have to go to the office to work more often, I need someone to take care of my mother as well as my children.

       “My mother is a dialysis patient and as such she needs a little care, and we have children aged seven to 10 in the house who transit to school from my mother’s place.

       “They need food and care because my husband and I are working in the food and banking industry, respectively.

       “Since I have to go back to the office more often now, we desperately need someone to cook, oversee the children and do housework,” said Laj who lives in Ampang.Left with no choice, media practitioner Chloe Lee said she needed a maid to take care of her elderly mother, who is bedridden.

       “I am left with no choice but to fork out the extra money.

       “My job requires me to be on the ground and my mother needs constant care.

       “She needs to be fed. Even though it is very costly for me to get a foreign maid, I could not leave my mother alone at home,” she said.

       Meanwhile, Justina Neo, the managing director of a job agency, said there were many other costs that need to be factored in when bringing in foreign domestic helpers, such as agency fee from the source countries which is much higher for Indonesia compared to the Philippines.

       “The RM1,136 mentioned is actually only for various fees charged by the Immigration Department, including levies and visas based on the origin country and it doesn’t cover the entire cost.

       “The total fees shall also include suppliers’ biodata fees, quarantine cost and PCR tests at source countries, air fare, Fomema fees, insurance, quarantine and PCR tests after arriving in Malaysia, administrative services for as long as they are here.

       “The government still does not open borders and allow processing of domestic helpers yet probably because there is a memorandum of understanding to be settled with Indonesia.

       “Since lots of employers are in dire need of foreign domestic helpers, the government should now open the door to Filipinas,” she said, adding that her agency recruits maids mostly from the Philippines and some from Indonesia.

       The Star had reported that the cost of procuring a maid in the country is among the highest in the world. The five-figure amount has been much talked about as families are now forced to fork out more due to the pandemic.