Raja Zulkepley Dahalan also warned that such a move might lead to an increase in human trafficking.
“You can’t just go to other countries and do as you wish, requesting their citizens to be your maid. What happens if they cheat you? Who would be responsible?” he asked.
He was commenting on an announcement by Prime Minister Najib Razak when tabling Budget 2018 that the government would allow employers to hire foreign domestic workers from nine selected countries.
The cost to hire domestic workers will also be up to 50% cheaper, Najib had said.
Raja Zulkepley was concerned that illegal agencies would take advantage of the move and as a result, there would be an increase in human trafficking.
He said there were three issues which Putrajaya would need to solve to make the initiative work.
“First, they must get the approval of the foreign embassies and they would need to get a cheaper price for the maids,” he said.
Currently, the fees to hire Indonesian maids are fixed at RM9,500 to RM10,000.
For Filipinas, it is fixed at RM6,300. For Cambodian maids, the fees are between RM5,500 and RM6,000.
“The real question here is, can the government reduce these fixed market prices by 50%?” Raja Zulkepley asked.
He said, the second issue was the need to get rid of human trafficking and illegal agencies.
Raja Zukepley said the initiative would please the illegal agents as they would no longer have to compete with legal agencies, and as a result, it would encourage more human trafficking.
“Thirdly, they (the government) must find a way to simplify and shorten the process of hiring maids from the current two to three months to two to three weeks,” he said.
The process, he said, could be complicated as it involved four different entities – the labour department, the respective embassies, the Foreign Workers Centralised Management System (FWCMS), and the immigration department.
“If the government can come up with a solution for these issues, then I have nothing to say but I think it is impossible without the help of recruitment agencies,” he said.
Raja Zukepley also urged Putrajaya to hold a meeting with the recruitment agencies to discuss the issues.