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THERE'S nothing new about the plan to draw up a new law for foreign workers. In February, the Home Affairs Minister had announced that a Foreign Workers Bill would soon be ready for cabinet approval before being tabled in parliament. But 10 months down the line, it would appear that the cabinet is far from ready to give the green light, judging from the deputy prime minister's remarks on the need to wait for the Economic Planning Unit's report on the number of foreign workers required in each sector of the economy. Indeed, since one of the aims of the new legislation seems to be to reduce the dependence on foreign workers, it would be injudicious to go ahead without a clearer picture of the country's manpower requirements. In fact, it is a matter of regret that, more than three years after it was first announced that the EPU had been tasked with coming up with a Human Resource Master Plan that would reduce the reliance on foreign workers, such a plan seems to be still on the drawing board.

What is less clear, however, is whether revising the law is what it would take to cut back on foreign workers and provide more job opportunities to Malaysians. As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pointed out in his winding-up speech at the end of the Umno general assembly last week, our "addiction" to foreign workers stems from the fact that they are cheap. This means there is little motivation to invest in automation, mechanisation or other labour-saving innovations and to move up the value chain -- which means what is needed is a package of incentives to lure companies away from labour-intensive production to higher value-added activities.

There is also nothing new about the injustice of the one-sidedness of the punitive punishments against illegal immigrants. Three years ago, the deputy prime minister lamented that no legal action had been taken against employers. Since there are already provisions for stiff penalties and special immigration courts have been established, surely we do not have to wait for another law before we see faster action against errant bosses. The same seems to apply to the argument that a new law is needed to provide better protection to foreign workers. As the human resources minister pointed out in February, there are enough labour laws. What is lacking is decisive action against those who abuse the rights of foreign workers, rather than any deficiency in the legislation.

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