Search for freedom

> The recent poor treatment of domestic workers has caused many people to want to change the laws that oppress them

SOME people say and do the darndest things. For that, I refer to a popular Kuwaiti blogger who outrageously said domestic workers shouldn’t be given a day off, rejecting labour reforms now taking place in Kuwait.

The pretty blogger, of whom I shall refer to by her initials, SAQ, has a strong following of 2.3 million Instagram users whom she had mesmerised with her makeup tutorials, as well as endorsements of major cosmetic major brands.

But it all changed after she criticised new regulations to protect some 260,000 Filipino domestic workers in her oil-rich country in the Arabian Gulf.

One cosmetics company immediately issued a statement and suspended all collaborations with SAQ after she said in a video: “How can you have a servant at home who keeps their own passport with them? What’s worse is they have one day off every week.”

Social media users have labelled SAQ a racist who was encouraging modern-day slavery.

Nearer home in Malaysia, we still have employers who keep the passports of their foreign workers. The reason or excuse? To protect the interests of employers.

I am of the view that no domestic worker will run away if they’re treated properly.

People travel several thousands of kilometres to eke out a living in this country. Why would they want to create trouble?

All they want is to have decent wages for their toil so that they can send back some money to feed their families. If they could have it, they wouldn’t want to be separated from their families.

Some poor workers see their family members only once in three years because they want to bring food to the table, clothe their offspring or siblings, and ensure that they have a roof over their heads.

Maybe I am too naïve. Maybe I am too sensitive, being the offspring of migrant workers from China.

When I was small, my young parents didn’t have to face the kind of nonsense that domestic workers have to face in Malaysia today.

As I had mentioned before, many of us Malaysians don’t know how to handle our new-found wealth or power.

Maybe I am right. I just got a call from a cousin lamenting on the fact that a wouldbe employee from Vietnam she wanted to hire couldn’t get his work permit renewed because his ex-employer wouldn’t release his passport unless he paid him some money.

My cousin also claimed that the police were not willing to take any action. I was asked whether I knew anyone in authority who could help.

Oops! It’s not as though I’ve a magic wand in terms of connections. If I did, I would be jetting around in a private jet or yacht in Phuket, Bali or the Pearl River Delta!

But let’s look at the merits of the case. For an ex-employer to demand that his ex-worker pay him money to redeem his passport would be tantamount to not agreeing to pay the original wages agreed upon earlier.

Secondly, I believe that a passport, although issued to an individual personally, is still the property of the holder’s government.

To cut a long story short, I told her to go the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

I reminded her that it’s the new Malaysia now. If the police officer concerned didn’t want to move his butt, just report him to MACC.

In the end, my cousin went to the police station with a lawyer from human rights organisation Tenaganita.

The officer concerned stirred into action and confronted the errant employer. The passport was returned without any payment.

There’s hope. A hope for a better and more principled Malaysia.