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NIRMALA Bonat, Nurjanah Matiah, Kusiah Manijan and Ruminah Atem. They are among the hundreds of thousands of Indonesian maids who came here to eke out a living but made news as victims of abuse at the hands of their Malaysian employers.

Two weeks ago, Siti Hajar Sadli from Garut, West Java, joined their ranks. Siti, 33, who worked for a single mother was alleged to have been beaten with a cane and doused with boiling water.

Her case sparked such a huge outcry that even Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called her personally to express his concern and support for her. And the Indonesian Labour Ministry says it would consider a temporary halt to sending maids to Malaysia until several issues were ironed out.

Least-favoured destination

As it stands, Indonesians who wish to work abroad as domestic help pick Malaysia as a last resort.

“Malaysia is not a favoured destination for Indonesian maids,” says Mohd Idris Laena, the vice-chairman of the Indonesian Manpower Supply Association (Apjati). They prefer Taiwan and Hong Kong because of the better worker protection laws, higher salaries and better employment benefits accorded to them there.

“About 80% of them want to go to Taiwan or Hong Kong. It has been quite difficult to get maids who want to go to Malaysia for the past three years,” he says.

Idris says Indonesia exported about 400,000 maids yearly. About four years ago, about 50% of them arrived in Malaysia, but this has dropped to about 20% now, he adds.

Typically, Indonesian maids earn about RM600 monthly here but in Hong Kong and Taiwan they earn about three or four times more.

“Now, Indonesians can earn an income at home close to what they can get in Malaysia, so it is not worth their while coming here,” says Idris.

Idris adds that Malaysia was once the preferred destination for Indonesians because of ties between the two countries but ever since Taiwan opened its doors a few years back, the equation has changed.

An industry insider says that Indonesian maids are classified according to their “quality”, with the so-called best opting for Taiwan or Hong Kong while the least qualified come to Malaysia.

Going to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, however, requires the maids to learn Cantonese, Mandarin and English respectively, after which they have to sit for a test.

“Those who can’t cope with learning another language come to Malaysia,” says Idris.

Malaysia is also seen as lacking in terms of worker protection. In Hong Kong, for example, maids are given equal rights as other workers. Idris says employers can get imprisoned if the maids are underpaid.

He adds that Malaysia and Indonesia are serumpun (belonging to the same family) and by right should be able to work together easily.

“But ironically, there are many cases of cruelty and there is a perception that Malaysians are cruel. I personally don’t agree that Malaysians are cruel, it’s just certain individuals,” he says.

Every year, the Indonesian embassy handles about 1,000 cases of maids who run away from their employers. This translates to about 0.3% of the estimated 300,000 Indonesian maids in Malaysia.

“The statistics may be very low but some of these cases are extreme,” says Second Secretary (Consular Affairs) Susapto Anggoro Broto.

The degree of abuse varies – maids doused with hot water, some burned with hot irons, some given too little food, some prohibited from practising their religion, and some not allowed much rest. But most of the cases handled by the embassy are for non-payment of salary.

The shelter currently houses about 160, more than twice its capacity of 75.

“We want our workers to be protected. It is also the obligation of the receiving countries to offer protection,” says Susapto.

Malaysia and Indonesia are scheduled to hold talks on July 15 to discuss various problems facing Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

At the meeting, the Indonesian delegation would propose reviewing several clauses in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the manpower field both sides signed early this year.

The clauses, among others, relate to protection of Indonesian migrant workers and their rights as well as improvement of their salaries.

The talks are important as Malaysia is seen in very poor light at the moment. “That is the impression from the Indonesian media who are discussing the issue of exploitation on radio and television talk shows,” says Susapto.

Malaysian Association of Foreign Maids Agencies (Papa) president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan believes that for every Siti Hajar, many other cases go unreported.

“Because of all these stories, Indonesians don’t want to come to Malaysia. Our reputation is very bad,” he says.

Owner of the Tajung Segar maid agency, Sutedy, however, believes the issue has been sensationalised.

“I think it is the same anywhere – you will have good and bad employers. Many are still interested in coming to Malaysia because of the similar culture and language,” he says.

Hard to change mindset

A seemingly big challenge would be changing the mindset of Malaysian employers, judging from their response to the Government’s decision to make it mandatory for employers to give their maids one day off in a week.

More than 75% of 769 respondents in an SMS poll conducted by The Star were against the idea of granting maids a day off every week.

“People pay for the maids, so they think they can control them,” says Aegile Fernandez of Tenaganita.

She says action is only taken against errant employers when media attention is generated, as in the case Nirmala Bonat and Siti Hajar.

“How about the hundreds of others that come to us or other NGOs? It’s a long fight with the employers who get away scot-free,” says Fernandez.

Widyarka Ryananta, Minister Counsellor (Information, Social and Culture) hopes the changes are implemented soon as it would benefit the workers and would be good for Malaysia’s image.

“We appreciate this step very much. In other countries, one day off is normal,” he says, adding that a minimum wage structure would be appreciated too.

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, all maids or domestic workers are entitled to one day off a week, statutory holidays and annual leave.

Subaikah, 43, who worked in Hong Kong for eight years before the age limit of 40 there prohibited her from going back, says she was shocked when she came to work in Malaysia two years ago.

“We don’t get an off day a week here. I am being paid less for more work here.”

Contracts between employers and maids are such that maids are paid in lieu of their off days. Malaysian employers cite bad influence from peers, getting a boyfriend, getting pregnant and contracting diseases among the reasons for not wanting to give their maids a day off.

Sutedy acknowledges that Indonesians working in their homeland as domestic help do not get a day off either and their salary would be about RM170 though the skilled ones could get double the pay.

Raja Zulkepley, like most Malaysian employers, is not too keen on the day off proposal.

“In principal it’s a good idea in line with human rights, but I fear that they can be easily influenced by unscrupulous people. They could even expose the employer to danger. Who will be responsible for that? There will be a chain reaction and everyone will pass the buck back to the agencies,” he says.

Raja Zulkepley also points out that there are almost two million Indonesians working in Malaysia – mostly in the construction, plantation and manufacturing sectors.

“The ratio of females to males is about one to five. Then there are workers of other nationalities. In other countries, there are not as many foreign male workers around,” he says.

Another challenge would be persuading Malaysian employers not to hold their maids’ passports as they would need these documents on their day off.

Give them recognition

Fernandez says the first step is to recognise maids as domestic workers. Currently, maids are not protected under the Employment Act as they are not considered to be workers.

“They are addressed as maids, servants or household helpers. The Employment Act says they have to be a worker. We should recognise them as workers,” says Fernandez.

She proposes that the Government in its amendments to the Employment Act, works out a standard contract for the recruitment, placement and employment of domestic workers. The contract should be attached as part of the Employment Act.

“This attachment of the contract would then be enforceable as part of the Employment Act. Such a practice has had very good results in South Africa,” she says.

Susapto says the Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore governments were very much involved in giving protection to workers there. He cites the example of Singapore where those who want to hire maids must have a minimum income.

“It is sort of a guarantee that the employers can afford the wages of the maid,” he says.