Malaysians urged to hire maids from Thailand, China, Cambodia

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysians have been encouraged to look to Thailand, China and Cambodia to hire maids due to a shortage of Indonesians keen to work in the neighbouring country, reports said Monday.

Deputy Home Minister Tan Chai Ho said that Indonesian women were now more keen to work as maids in the Middle East, Taiwan or Hong Kong, where wages are higher than in Malaysia.

'That's why employers must look for other alternatives such as employing non-Indonesian workers, as there are also many good workers in the other countries,' Tan was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Indonesian women, along with maids from the Philippines, are the preferred choice of Malaysian employers due to similarities in culture and language in both countries.

'That's why employers must look for other alternatives such as employing non-Indonesian workers, as there are also many good workers in the other countries,' Tan was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Indonesian women, along with maids from the Philippines, are the preferred choice of Malaysian employers due to similarities in culture and language in both countries.

'In our country, they are only paid between 450 ringgit (132 dollars) and 600 ringgit (176 dollars),' Tan said. 'I understand they can earn as much as 1,000 ringgit (294 dollars) in other countries. That's why they prefer to work there.'

By June 2006, official records showed 1.84 million registered foreign workers in Malaysia, of which 26.9 per cent - or 500,000 people - were foreign maids.

The largest nationality of maids in Malaysia are Indonesians, followed by Filipino maids who make up about 20,000 workers.