Formulate detailed guideline on hiring foreign cooks – KKCCCI
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) president Datuk Michael Lui yesterday welcomed the Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran’s statement that the call for restaurants to only hire local cooks was just a suggestion.
He said the previous rash announcement to implement the local cooks only policy had caught food operators unawares.
“Food outlet operators are confused with the scope of the policy to hire only local cooks.”
He said the ministry must formulate a detailed guideline and regulations on hiring professional foreign cooks and consider the different situations in each state instead of imposing the policy across the board.
Lui said the chamber welcomed Kulasegaran’s statement that the ministry would engage with various stakeholders before making a final decision.
“We believe a win-win solution can be achieved through communication and cooperation between the government and people.”
Although the local cooks only policy was aimed at reducing our dependency on foreign workers, the government ought to consider whether there were sufficient local cooks to replace their foreign counterparts before making the announcement, he said.
He urged the Human Resources Ministry to consider giving food operators more time to get ready and train local cooks to prevent any negative repercussions.
Lui said the proposal to ban foreign cooks had exposed the lack of skill-based trainings among locals.
“We urge the state government, through the Education and Innovation Ministry, to promote and implement vocational training to ensure locals are equipped with skills like culinary.”
He believed that vocational training would resolve the difficulty of hiring local workers in various industries.