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KUALA LUMPUR – Former technician Muhamad Hazriq Akbar used to check electrical wiring at new project sites to ensure the safety of high-speed train operations.
Today, the 27-year-old moves hundreds of cartons of imported goods at Malaysia’s main port, Port Klang.
Elsewhere in Selangor, former oil and gas cartoonist Ismail Daud now helps his sister pack scarves and move heavy boxes after being fired amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“You are paying me RM20 (S $ 6.50) per hour and in one day and week, I manage to get around RM300 to RM500.
“It is enough to put some food on the table and pay for my daughter’s milk and diapers,” said the 31-year-old woman.
As the Covid-19 outbreak devastated Malaysia’s economy, thousands were struggling to get any job they could, including what migrant workers had been doing for decades.
The Malaysian government on Thursday (May 7) said that some 520,000 Malaysians lost their jobs within seven weeks of the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, which prohibits Malaysians from leaving their homes, except for essential errands and businesses.
This forced the government to restart the economy under the “conditional MCO,” said Minister of Economic Affairs Mustapa Mohamed.
“Now Malaysia has already lost about 520,000 jobs. According to the Negara Bank projections, we can lose 1.8 million jobs if we do nothing,” Datuk Seri Mustapa said in a television program broadcast on TV3.
On May 1, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that almost all of Malaysia’s economic sectors would reopen starting Monday, May 4, after the country suffered RM2.4 billion in daily losses during the MCO, with estimated total losses currently at RM63 billion.
He added that if the MCO were to be extended, another RM35 billion would have to be added to the figure.
The lack of prospects also puts pressure on the government to cut Malaysia’s foreign workforce so that jobs can be passed on to locals desperate for a living.
Deputy Minister of Federal Territories Edmund Santhara revealed on May 4 that 1,200 locals had applied to work at the Selayang wholesale market, the country’s largest wholesale market, against claims that Malays were not interested in jobs ” 3D “, those considered dirty, dangerous and difficult. .
The market, seen by many as gross, primarily employed migrant workers before being forced to close due to the MCO.
“I’ll take whatever job comes up to me now. At the rate I’m going, I’m not in a position to be selective.”
“In addition to working part-time at the port, I am also looking for construction work near where I live,” Hazriq told The Straits Times.
He is renting a small apartment in Shah Alam of Selangor.
During the MCO, hundreds of refugees and migrant workers were also detained by the authorities, mainly for illegally staying in the country.
An official said the workers were mainly from South Asia, and that more raids would be carried out in the coming days.
Foreign citizens, including those from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Myanmar, flock to Malaysia due to its constant annual economic growth and lax immigration laws.
They work in manual jobs rejected by the Malays.
You could get a job on construction sites or palm plantations, and the jobs ranged from office cleaners to restaurant cooks.
Southeast Asia’s third largest economy is home to 2.2 million documented foreign workers and another 3.3 million illegal workers and their families.
Since the outbreak, there has been increasing hostility against this group, and some Malaysians blame low-wage migrant workers for spreading the virus.
Others say they should be fired so that locals can get their jobs back.
With authorities conducting massive swoops in upgraded MCO areas and arresting hundreds of migrant workers, the question remains whether there will still be a place for them in the country after the pandemic.
“I came here 15 years ago to look for a better life and things were great until the virus broke out.
“My friends and I were the first to be fired without any compensation despite being very good at what we do. Now we have nowhere to go, no money or food to eat,” said 47-year-old Ahmed Kawser of Bangladesh. old construction worker in Kuala Lumpur.
“We shudder to think about what the future holds for us in this country, especially with increasing hostility.”
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