Association not in favour of hiring only local cooks
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Restaurant Fellowship Association yesterday expressed disapproval over Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran’s suggestion for restaurants to hire only local cooks.
Its president, Kapitan Lim Vun Chan, said locals were reluctant to work in the kitchens. He added that our country’s education policy was also to be blamed for the lack of emphasis on vocational training for students who did not perform well academically in schools.
Lim pointed out that students who could not cope in conventional schools were still required to finish their academic education under our education system and perhaps go on towards getting a diploma or university degree.
Upon getting their certificates, these graduates are unwilling to work in menial jobs while demand higher pay, he said.
“In China, students who do not perform well in conventional schools are sent to vocational schools where they learn skills in electrical training, carpentry and culinary. As a result, there is never an issue of insufficient skillbased talents in the country,” Lim disclosed.
He said the government should encourage locals to enroll in vocational schools in order for them to take over the jobs held by foreign workers.
Lim, who operates the Port View Palace Hall (Hakka Hall) off Tanjung Lipat, employs about 100 workers, 70 percent of whom are foreign workers. His workers also include 10 foreign cooks he hired from Manila, Philippines.
“Hiring foreign workers is not cheap. I pay over RM300,000 a year in levies, health checks and other expenses on foreign workers, the highest in the food and beverage (F&B) sector in Kota Kinabalu. I do not hire illegal workers,” he revealed.
He said foreign workers were willing to work whereas most locals would give all sorts of excuses not to show up for work.
According to him, there is a need to change the work attitude of local workers and their tendency to reject menial jobs.
On Kulasegaran’s remark that foreign cooks may affect the quality of local food, Lim said it was up to restaurants and eateries to control the quality of their food.
He said eateries are always striving to improve their food to maintain their business. Besides, he said foreign cooks were easy to be trained to cook local food as long as the workers “know how to hold a wok”.
“The Chinese food here are Guangdong cuisine. And the Filipino cooks in Manila are trained as apprentice to Hong Kong and Guangdong chefs. How can they possibly produce low quality food?” Lim remarked.
He said Kulasegaran’s suggestion to ban foreign cooks was akin to killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Moreover, Lim said foreign workers were more loyal to their employers compared to locals, while local cooks that he trained tend to leave for another job.
He said the government should take up the responsibility to train more skilled workers instead of leaving the task to the private sector.
“The government should encourage locals to learn vocational skills starting at age 15 in order for them to eventually take over the jobs held by foreign workers,” Lim urged.
Meanwhile, Kuo Man Restaurant co-owner, Kenny Chu, said, local workers lacked work discipline.
Founder of the eatery, Chu Yip Ming and his two sons, Kenny and Kenji, are still very much involved in the cooking process of the food served at Kuo Man Restaurant.
“I still cook and hire workers to help me out in the kitchen,” he said.
Nonetheless, he said it will be difficult to implement the local cooks only policy due to the work attitude of locals.
Kenny added that foreign workers were less likely to switch jobs because their levies were paid for by their employers, while locals were free to seek other jobs elsewhere.
On June 22, Kulasegaran had announced that all restaurants in the country would only be allowed to recruit locals as cooks effective January 1 next year.
He later said the call for restaurants to only hire local cooks was just a suggestion and a date was given as there needs to be a cut-off period. He also clarified that the local cooks requirement was only applicable to ‘ordinary local food’ outlets and did not apply to foreign food restaurants, high-end restaurants and five-star hotels which required specialized cooks.