Local cooks for M’sian food just a suggestion, says Kulasegaran

KUALA LUMPUR: The call for restaurants to only hire local cooks was just a suggestion, said Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran.

He told The Star yesterday that the ministry will be “reasonable” in getting food operators to hire local cooks.

The call for restaurants to hire local cooks was “just a suggestion” and a date was given as there needs to be a cut off period, Kulasegaran explained.

“We will engage with the various stakeholders before the final process,” he said.

On Friday (June 22), Kulasegaran said that all restaurants serving Malaysian food are required to recruit only locals as cooks from Jan 1, resulting in some brickbats hurled at him on social media.

Some food owners associations had also expressed shock over the announcement.

Kulasegaran also clarified that the local cooks requirement is only applicable to “ordinary local food” outlets and does not apply to foreign food restaurants, high-end restaurants and five-star hotels which require specialised cooks.

“We are being reasonable,” he said.

Kulasegaran added that Kuala Lumpur actually already has existing by-laws that hawkers must be Malaysian.

Under the Licensing of Hawkers (Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur) By-Laws 2016, all KL hawkers must be Malaysian and no foreign workers can be employed.

“We just want it to be properly regulated, and have the same laws applied to all states. We want to be consistent,” said Kulasegaran.