80% of Sabah eatery workers are foreigners
KOTA KINABALU: The proposal to legalize illegal immigrants who have been living in Sabah for generations with conditions is a practical approach to ease the shortage of manpower in the food and beverage industry, said Sabah Restaurants Fellowship Association president, Kapitan Lim Vun Chan.
The proposal was made by the Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) president, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr T.C. Goh, during a dinner with MCA deputy president, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, and other Chinese leaders recently.
Lim, who is also the owner of Port View Seafood Village, said the food service sector has been facing a shortage of manpower, especially in Sabah, where 70 to 80 percent of manpower were foreign workers.
“Shortage of labour will affect service standards and our business. It will also have a negative impact on the tourism sector and service industry as a whole.”
Lim said labour shortage was a longstanding problem for restaurants and eateries.
“We hope to meet with the relevant department to voice our issues in order to reach a consensus,” Lim said yesterday.
Lim said restaurants have tried to hire locals through various channels but to no avail, and in the end resort to employing foreign workers. Due to legal restrictions several years ago, many industry players have no choice but to hire illegal foreign workers as our last resort.”
On Sandakan member of parliament Stephen Wong Tien Fatt's strong objection to legalizing illegal workers, Lim hoped that the former could understand the issues faced by the industry players and come up with a solution.
“Politicians are free to comment anything they want to gain support. But I can say that he will not get our (restaurateurs) support. I hope he will consider the seriousness of this issue.”
Lim said Sabah has always boasted of its natural resources and rich seafood produce. All parties should work together to ensure Sabah lives up to its reputation as a renowned seafood producer and food haven in order to spur our tourism sector and related industries, thereby increasing the people’s income level.