Malaysia's one million job vacancies! A quick fix we may rue!

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One million jobs to be filled by Malaysians before foreigners are made offers

By ZUHRIN AZAM AHMAD zuhrinazam@thestar.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 1,051,427 job vacancies have been listed by eight ministries and related agencies to be filled by Malaysians before the remaining vacancies are offered to illegal immigrants granted amnesty under the Government's legalisation programme.

Workers are needed in five main sectors manufacturing, plantation, agriculture, construction and production.

Home Ministry senior deputy secretary-general Datuk Alwi Ibrahim said the International Trade and Industry Ministry listed the highest need with 275,723 vacancies.

Other vacancies were recorded by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry, Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry, Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry, Home Ministry, Tourism Ministry, Transport Ministry and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

He said the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry needed 237,700 workers, followed by Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (220,000), CIDB (165,000), Plantation Industries and Commodities (140,000), Home (10,000), Tourism (2,041) and Transport (963).

“These statistics were part of the feedback from the ministries and their related agencies during a meeting of the 6P amnesty programme chaired by the secretary-general (Tan Sri Mahmood Adam) on Monday.

“It was revealed that the five sectors, indeed, use huge foreign labour,” he said.

Alwi said all the vacancies would be advertised in several local newspapers in stages, beginning tomorrow.

“The jobs will first be offered to Malaysians before any remaining vacancies are opened to foreign workers.

“As such, Malaysians, especially the unemployed, are urged to take up the opportunities which will also support the Government's effort to reduce dependency on foreign workers,” he said yesterday.

Alwi said the next step in the process would be to match the demand from employers with the list of illegals who have registered under the 6P programme.

As of yesterday, a total of 2,210,235 legal workers and illegal immigrants had registered under the 6P programme, which consists of registration, legalisation, amnesty, supervision, enforcement and deportation.

Alwi said 1,215,004 were illegal immigrants and urged those who had yet to register to do so before the exercise ends on Aug 31.

“The ministry would also like to stress that illegals who registered with the programme will not be arrested,” he said.

MTUC: Better perks needed to attract locals

By ISABELLE LAI isabellelai@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The Government must improve salaries and benefits of blue-collar workers if it wants to attract locals and reduce the country's dependence on foreign workers.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) vice-president Mohd Roszali Majid welcomed the Government's announcement that the over one million job vacancies it had identified would be offered to locals first.

 

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 Just do it: Mustafa tells locals to “meet the challenge”.

The 1,051,427 job vacancies are in five main sectors manufacturing, plantation, agriculture, construction and production.

Roszali said the Government must improve the “overall package” for local workers including housing, medical, and transport benefits.

National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) secretary-general Datuk G. Sankaran urged the Government to set a decent salary for plantation workers as there was no replacement for older workers who had retired.

“Young people prefer factory jobs but there are so many vacancies in plantations. We badly need local workers,” he said.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Tan Sri Mustafa Mansur urged local workers to “meet the challenge”.

He said higher salaries would depend on their skills, pointing out that highly-skilled construction and factory workers in Europe were well-paid.

“If they don't take up the jobs, we will continue to have a problem of too many foreign workers in the country,” he said.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said he hoped the Government would proactively find Malaysians to fill the vacancies and not just pay “lip service” by hiring illegal immigrants instead.

He said the Government had to try and encourage locals to venture into these job sectors, especially unemployed youths.

Jobstreet.com country manager Chook Yuh Yng said locals were likely to take up these jobs if the wages were fair.

She said this was imperative as the cost of living was going up.

Recruiter Royce Cheah said locals in rural areas should be more willing to take up these jobs.

 A quick fix we may rue

 MALAYSIA has come a long way after getting independence. It’s going to be 54 years. There has been growth and prosperity. We are supposed to be heading towards a high income economy. I wish we can achieve it.

But look at the number of legal and illegal foreign workers in Malaysia. There are probably over three million of them. It is alarming and is a cause for concern. Malaysia has become a haven for foreign workers.

The influx of illegal and legal workers is a serious matter and we should stop our over-dependence on them.

If those who enter the workforce are professionals, highly skilled and come with funds to invest, I reckon it’s acceptable. Unfortunately, we have become a dumping ground in every way, including a transit point for human trafficking and drugs.

We are also gaining mileage as a destination for immoral activities. I can’t blame the culprits. Some of our law enforcers have been complacent and lackadaisical in executing their duties. Where is the patriotism?

There are loopholes and flaws in our system that even the foreigners, especially the illegal immigrants, are aware of. Otherwise how can they get away with falsifying identity cards and passports? They know how to hoodwink our enforcers.

Perhaps some of our enforcers themselves are working hand in glove with these illegals.

I’m not against foreign workers. But their inflow needs to be checked before they become a burden and a menace. In the name of globalisation and wanting revenue from tourism, we are importing a lot of unwanted elements into our country.

Social ills and disharmony are already prevalent at a worrisome level. It’s okay to sympathise with the plight of foreign workers but soon we might be at their mercy. Soon they will be fighting for their rights, and probably appeal to the Human Rights Commission.

I hope the policy makers can see the consequences. Rigid regulations and stern actions are necessary. I reckon we need a special task force to oversee this issue. Nipping it in the bud is the best solution.

Hopefully, the biometric registration will assist in getting a real picture of our country’s predicament. If the inflow of foreign workers is not checked, it’s going to cause a lot of headaches for Malaysia.

Come the festive and public holidays, many major cities and towns will be flooded with them. They will reflect our nation’s identity and image. What a way to advertise the country.

The disadvantages of employing foreign workers far outweigh the advantages in the long run. From the employers’ point of view, they desperately need the foreign workers.

This situation has been created by the employers themselves. Foreign labour is a quick fix for their woes. The employers pay them low wages and provide them with deplorable working conditions. Their accommodation is atrocious.

It’s time employers are committed to the social and economic growth of the nation as a whole. Their greed and self-centredness are certainly going to be stumbling blocks to making Malaysia a high income nation.
It is time employers start doing away with labour-intensive work methods.

PATRIOT,
Sungai Petani, Kedah.

Reviving our winning ways

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Reflecting On The Law By Shad Saleem Faruqi

 As a nation, we will be celebrating our 54 years of independence. But, regrettably, the enslavement of our mind still continues despite the colonizer having long gone back home.

HARI Raya is approaching and so is National Day. It is time to seek solace in prayer and renew our resolve to overcome some persistent problems that are straining the social fabric.

Among these are the deterioration of inter-ethnic relations and the ascendancy of some shrill voices of discord that trumpet all that divides us as well as trivialise much that unites us.

However, on a positive note, this is the season to count our blessings, which indeed are many.

First, is the area of constitutionalism.

Though the cup is not full to the brim, it is not empty.There is enough in it to relish, cherish, protect and preserve.

The Constitution has survived the vicissitudes of race and religious politics. Despite many political and economic crises that could have torn other societies asunder, our Constitution has endured.

It has provided a firm foundation for political stability, social harmony and economic prosperity.

Second is the wondrous durabi-lity of political cooperation among the country’s racial and religious groups.

The coalition of 14 disparate political parties under a sometimes shaky, but nevertheless enduring, political alliance is perhaps the world’s longest surviving political arrangement.

In 1955, two years before Merdeka, it was built on a spirit of accommodation, a moderation of spirit, an absence of the kind of passions, zeal and ideological convictions that in other plural societies have left a heritage of bitterness and violence.

A similar rainbow coalition is emerging on the other side of the political fence and this raises hope for the eventual emergence of issue-based rather than race-based politics.

Third is the success of our economy and development plans.

These have positive implications for the realisation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Consti­tution and for the success of socially ameliorative programmes.

Fourth, Malaysia has successfully used the economy to unite its disparate racial groups.

By encouraging entrepreneurship and tapping the genius of the minority communities to supply leadership on the economic front, the Government achieved twin objectives. It succeeded in developing the country and also gave every community a stake in the nation.

The fifth sterling achievement is that despite periodic tensions and racist and religious rhetoric, the country’s enduring and endearing inter-ethnic harmony has few parallels in the world.

Instead of creating a melting pot, Malaysia painstakingly weaved a rich cultural mosaic and an extraordinarily multi-faceted society.

The sixth outstanding feature of Malaysia is the peaceful and cooperative manner in which social engineering is being accomplished.

Unlike some other societies with a similar problem of identification of race with economic function and the concentration of wealth in the hands of powerful minorities, the Government did not expropriate the wealth of one community to bestow it on another.

It embarked on a pragmatic expansion of opportunities to give to every community its share of the economic pie.

Many aspects of this policy of social engineering have succeeded, though there is much scope for improvement.

A seventh remarkable feature of the country is the emancipation of women.

In the work place, in schools and in universities, women are easily outnumbering men.

In the professions, they are making their mark and increasingly moving into leadership positions.

Recently, the Constitution was amended to outlaw gender discrimination in the public sector.

Eighth, Malaysia is an exemplar of a moderate and progressive society that embraces modernity and democracy and yet accommodates the spiritual view of life.

The imperatives of modernity and the aspirations of religion mingle together.

This not to deny, however, that there are strong cross-currents of obscurantism in the last two decades that are posing a challenge to social harmony.

Ninth, Malaysia has successfully kept the armed forces under civilian control.

There has been no attempted coup d’etat and no “stern warnings” from military generals to the political executive.

Even in 1969, when law and order broke down in the Klang Valley, the National Operations Council was headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak who called the shots with the army and police representatives in attendance.

Another remarkable phenomenon is that the extra-constitutional military-industrial complex, that behind the scenes dictates policy in many democratic countries like the US, has not been able to displace civilian control over military and industrial decisions in Malaysia.

Tenth, Malaysia has successfully used education as a tool of social engineering and upward social mobility.
Primary and secondary education is free and open to all irrespective of race or religion. Tertiary education is highly subsidised.

Though the Government is unable to meet the aspirations of all who seek higher education, the opportunities for upward mobility through higher education are exhilarating.



However, how far our tertiary educational system emancipates us from servile dependence on and mental slavery to Western education is another question.

As we celebrate National Day it must be remembered that the stains of cultural and intellectual imperialism do not end with the attainment of political freedom.

Freedom is a state of the mind and, regrettably, the enslavement of our mind still continues long after the coloniser had gone back home.

Most of our universities blindly ape European curricula and European paradigms.

We ignore the knowledge systems and traditions of the East.

Our books, syllabi and intellectual icons are mostly from the West. Our list of experts, external examiners and guest speakers are mostly European.

Towering personalities of our own region are shunned. Decades have passed, but our servile minds have not woken up to the damage done to our psyche.

While parochialism and narrow chauvinism are not called for, we have to take pride in our own heritage and draw sustenance from it before supplementing it with wisdom from elsewhere.

Nevertheless, as the commemoration day of our independence draws nigh, we must count our many blessings.

There is much in Malaysia’s struggles and successes that is worthy of emulation by friends and foes alike.

This is not to say that we should be complacent. As we celebrate 54 years of independence, our laws and institutions, our values and our views cannot remain impervious to the changes and challenges all around us.

In the realm of law and politics, there are always new challenges and opportunities that beckon the human spirit.

> Shad Saleem Faruqi is Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM and Visiting Professor at USM. 

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Malaysia still in pursuit of full independence 

3 Powerful Skills You Must Have to Succeed in Sales

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by Sharon Michaels

A key to successfully sharing and selling a product, service or idea, is to ask questions and then listen quietly and carefully to the answers. Many of us try too hard to convince people to buy instead of discovering what our future customer or client really wants, needs and desires from us.

To succeed in sales remember these three listening and relationship building skills:

S – Sincerity – Listen without an agenda, it’s not about your needs.

E – Ethics – Don’t try to talk someone into something, listen to what they want.

A – Asking – Serve others by asking questions that will assist them in making a wise buying decision.



Building win-win relationships means remembering that it is not about what we want but what the other person wants. Here are three relationship building skills that when used regularly will have you increasing sales and creating satisfied loyal customers.

1. Listening sincerely and without an agenda. The buying process is not about you and your wants and needs, it is about the customer. Too many of us come to the sales table with our own agenda. We are sometimes too busy thinking about quotas, promotions and commissions. It’s not about us, it’s about the wants, needs and expectations of the prospective buyer.

A sales person with an agenda tends to push too hard and often doesn’t listen well. Leave your agenda at home. Sincerely focus on your customer and how your product can best serve their hopes, dreams and goals. Zig Ziglar said it best, “You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want.”

2. Don’t talk someone into something, allow them to make their own buying decision. Doing what is right for everyone involved is the ethical thing to do. I’m reminded of a phrase from Dale Carnegie’s book, How To Win Friends and Influence People, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”

Your role in the sales process is to present your product in a clear, concise and truthful manner—with integrity. The best customer is the customer who can make an educated decision based on what is best for them. A loyal customer is an educated customer. You are not in the convincing business, you are in the sharing business. Your job is to ethically offer the product, service or idea, explain the benefits and answer questions. Your customer or client will then make a buying decision based on the information they’ve been given. Making the sale is about asking questions, answering questions and building a trustworthy win-win relationship.

3. You can serve your client/customer best by finding out what they want, need and expect from what you are offering. Sometimes, we are so excited to share everything we know about what we’re offering that we forget it is about your potential customer’s expectations. What is important to you may not be important to them.

I’m reminded of a story: A young mother just starting out with a large network marketing company was excited and eager to share her business with other stay-at-home mothers. She was having coffee with a potential recruit as their children played near by. The young mother was eagerly showing her products and explaining the business potential. She went on and on about how she could stay home with her children and didn’t have to leave the house to conduct business.

The mother who was listening seemed to suddenly turn off her interest and attention. When our eager young network marketing mother asked her friend to join her in the business, the friend replied with a resounding, “No,” The business-building mother was shocked and saddened, “Why?” she asked. “Because,” her friend said, “I want to be able to do something that allows me to get out of the house and socialize with other adults.”

Moral of the story: Ask questions and listen. Don’t assume that what is important to you is important to your future customers.

Successful selling isn’t about what you want, it is about how can you best serve the needs of your customers and clients. Coming from a sincere place of service, will help increase sales and develop loyal client and referral base.

Keeping the three elements of SEA (Sincerity, Ethics, Asking) in mind, you can easily and effortlessly find new customers and clients who will want to do business with you now and in the future. Selling your service, product or idea is about doing the right thing for everyone involved – it is about building win-win relationships.


Sharon Michaels is a business coach and the author of How to Give Yourself the Power to Succeed. She produces and hosts the weekly radio show, Women Enjoying Success and the blog Power to Succeed. Check out her weekly Ezine, Unlimited Success for Women. 

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