KUALA LUMPUR: Approximately 10,000 maids are expected to arrive in the country after Hari Raya, says Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

       Saravanan said they are looking at 10,000 maids from Indonesia entering the country as the first batch.

       “At the same time, I am talking to other countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh to bring in maids,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday (April 12).

       Saravanan said in the near future, he would be visiting Cambodia and Vietnam to discuss bringing in foreign workers, especially for the domestic helpers sector.

       He noted that the application process for maids in countries apart from Indonesia will be dependent on the source country.

       When asked about the minimum household income of RM7,000 to employ a maid, Saravanan said Indonesia made such a condition as they felt that maids weren’t paid their salaries as those with a RM3,000 household income can also apply for a maid.

       Saravanan said he would be looking very closely at the implementation of the RM7,000 household income condition, noting that the high cost may prevent legitimate workers from entering the country.

       “We will look at the implementation to see if RM7,000 is too high. Maybe we will ask them to lower it as if we fail to lower it, this will continue the forced labour (situation) in our country,” he said.

       Meanwhile, Saravanan also refuted claims that it costs RM15,000 to hire a maid.

       He explained that when discussions were made with Indonesia on maids, they were dealing with issues of a 14-day quarantine period and RT-PCR testing.

       Saravanan said the cost back then in Malaysia was around RM9,000 while the cost in Indonesia were about RM4,000 to RM5,000

       “But, right now there is no more quarantine. So our charges would be about RM6,000 as in the past it was RM9,000 including the cost of the hotel stay during the quarantine period (as well as other costs)," said Saravanan.

       "Since there is no more quarantine, it will reduce from RM9,000 to RM6,000on our side and as the same applies to the other side, (the cost) will drop,” he said.