He disputed an FMT report that a group, known as the “anti-syndicate movement”, had staged a protest by holding up banners and placards with his picture, objecting to Putrajaya’s request to allow only 25 of the over 1,300 agencies in Bangladesh to supply workers to Malaysia.

“I saw that one of the banners said ‘Welcome to the minister’ and wished us a successful meeting. Is that a protest? Don’t do this, especially to politicians. We are humans too,” said Saravanan, who accused FMT of spreading “slander”.

For the record, as contained in FMT’s report yesterday, one of the banners read, “We wish you a successful meeting with our minister to open the Malaysia job market for all valid Bangladeshi recruiting agencies, like the other 13 source countries.”

However, other banners said, “No 25 syndicate”, in reference to the 25 agencies allowed to supply workers.

Saravanan maintained that there was no protest when he arrived for a Malaysia-Bangladesh joint working committee meeting on worker recruitment.

Recruitment agencies in Bangladesh have been speaking out against Malaysia’s request on limiting the number of companies that could supply workers, arguing that it would see workers spending about RM18,000 to be sent to Malaysia, more than double what should be required.