Ban on foreign cooks by year-end
PETALING JAYA: The Human Resource Ministry wants all restaurants in the country to only recruit locals as cooks from July 1, says its Minister M. Kula Segaran.
He however said all operators would be given up to the end of the year to ensure only local cooks work in their restaurants.
He said the regulation only permit locals as cooks in all restaurants effective January 1 2019.
“So we want locals to be employed as cooks. There will be no compromise... we are giving you notice to do it by December 31. If you don’t do it we can’t help it,” he told Bernama News Channel on Thursday.
Earlier, Kula Segaran held a meeting with the Indian Restaurant Operators Association (Prisma) in Petaling Jaya.
He said the ministry would be holding more meetings with Prisma as well as the Indian Muslim Restaurant Operators Association (Presma) soon on the implementation of local cooks in restaurants.
Kula Segaran said the move would be able to reduce dependence of local restaurants on foreign labour and ensure the quality of the local food.
He said the ministry would follow the footstep of the Penang state government in banning foreigners as cooks in food shops, restaurants as well as stalls around the island.
Since 2014, the Penang state government prohibited foreigners to work as cooks at hawker stalls in the effort to protect national food heritage.