By Lim Teck Ghee
Since
his appointment in 2009 as the Home Minister, Hishammuddin has been lurching
from one self-inflicted debacle to another.
The statement by the Home Minister
Hishammuddin Hussein that the presence of more illegal workers compared to the
legal ones is a cause of concern and could undermine national unity reveals
either an ignoramus or an idiot.
Did he
expect many less illegals given the super-efficiency of his ministry and the
other government agencies sharing responsibility on this vital matter of
securing our borders against unauthorised intrusion and stay in the country?
According
to the current ongoing exercise, as of Friday, a total of 2,088,358 foreign
workers had been registered, of whom 1,135,499 were illegals.
Probably
everyone else in the country, except Hisham, knows this number is an
under-estimate and a very large number are still waiting to be processed or are
avoiding being included in the count altogether.
Since his
appointment in 2009 as the minister in charge of this portfolio, Hishammuddin
has been lurching from one self-inflicted debacle to another.
From
bending over backwards to defend the indefensible conduct of demonstrators in
the infamous cow head incident to his most recent use of repressive force
against the Bersih rally, he has shown a standard of leadership of this
important ministry which must be plumbing new lows or matching those lows
attained by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Perhaps he
has not had time to study and understand the situation with illegals in
Malaysia, given the many important distractions posed by alleged anti-national
and possibly terrorist groupings such as those Parti Sosialis Malaysia members
recently taken in under the Emergency Ordinance for having on their possession
Che Guevara and other communist attire; or the Bersih supporters who needed
tear-gassing and a big clout on their thick skulls for upsetting the traffic
flow on a weekend; or the MoCS supporters who want to ungild the lily white and
‘incorruptible’ reputation of one of the country’s most trusted and respected
leaders through their potentially inflammatory Kuching walk rally aborted on
“friendly police advice” – and by the way, is Hishammuddin related in any
way to Taib Mahmud?
Summary of facts
If he has still not been briefed by his ministry officials on the foreign labour issue, this quick summary of facts, figures and other considerations may be useful.
If he has still not been briefed by his ministry officials on the foreign labour issue, this quick summary of facts, figures and other considerations may be useful.
·
The 10th Malaysian Plan document has a chart showing that the
number of foreign workers in the country exceeded two million-plus in 2008.
This figure has most likely increased rather than decreased.
·
The current hi-tech, super hi-cost biometric exercise seems
to have registered only half of all workers with permits and probably fewer
than half of those without.
·
The presence of so many foreign workers is not only due to
economic factors but also to Umno’s political agenda which everyone in the
country, except the non-Malay Barisan leaders and parties are aware of.
·
Thanks to ‘enlightened’ Umno and Barisan policies, the
Malaysian economy and society is hopelessly and irredeemably addicted to
foreign workers.
·
The great majority of foreign workers work a lot harder for a
lot less than their Malaysian counterparts. They deserve to be treated with
fairness and respect, and we should resist any witch-hunt aimed at blaming them
for self inflicted socio-economic and political ills.
·
The profits in the foreign labour market have generated
pervasive corruption amongst all levels of the police force, the Immigration
Department, Rela, agents and other agencies – public and private.
·
The extortion of payments, services and loyalty from this
marginalized segment and use of them as a pawn in the demographic and racial
power game will continue whatever the changes in policy and new stances adopted
for public consumption unless there is a regime change.
Some
analysts who have observed the Home Minister closely – he is after all a
graduate from the University of Wales and London School of Economics – are of
the opinion that he is not an ignoramus or idiot.
He is a
political animal aiming for the top position through scrupulous or unscrupulous
means.
According
to the latest hot news in the internet, there is more behind the Home
Minister’s new found enthusiasm for pursuing the registration of foreign
workers.
One is the claim that the new biometrics system is the cash
cow for the coming Umno elections. Much of this hot news cannot be
verified but readers can visit this website for
details.
Source : FMT
Online Booking Hotel
EmpireMoney
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