He proposed that the records be accessible only at the ministry level and the immigration and customs departments.

“I don’t think there is a need for a third party (employers) to have access to their criminal records,” he said at a press conference after launching the Second Chances and Opportunities for People to Excel (SCOPE) programme for former convicts.

Asked if the matter had been brought to the Cabinet, Saravanan said the proposal would be discussed at the ministerial level.

“This is just my suggestion as human resources minister. However, this matter is under the home ministry since it involves safety issues.

“For now, I am unsure of the home ministry’s approach to this issue.”

He said it was not easy for former convicts to find jobs as some companies had concerns over hiring them.

Such a scenario could lead to the former convicts becoming desperate and going back to a life of crime.

Saravanan said SCOPE was an initiative under the Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) aimed at supporting prison inmates who had completed their sentences by providing them skills development training and employment opportunities.

Citing statistics from the prisons department, he said as of 2019, there were more than 140,000 incarcerated individuals in Malaysian prisons, and the government had been spending more than RM1.6 billion annually on prison management.

“It is my hope that by providing former prisoners with skills training and employment opportunities, SCOPE can help to reduce the number of repeat offenders and, eventually, our prison population.

“SCOPE can also help to lessen our dependency on foreign workers while reducing our national unemployment. This is important as we strive to become a developed nation and build an inclusive society,” he said.

Phase 1 of the initiative has seen more than 1,000 former convicts offered jobs in various sectors such as construction, transportation, farming, services, plantation, as well as mining and quarrying.