Human Resources Ministry sets up committee to help Malaysian workers in S'pore

PUTRAJAYA:The Human Resources Ministry has set up a Special Task Force Committee to develop a comprehensive database of Malaysian workers in Singapore to identify strategies and action plans to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, said in a statement today that the committee was set up following an increase in the number of job layoffs among Malaysians in Singapore due to COVID-19.

“The government views this matter seriously,” he said, adding that the committee’s first meeting on Oct 30 will be chaired by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Jamil Rakon.

Saravanan said among the ministries and agencies involved in the committee are the Home Ministry, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture as well as the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department.

The other members of the committee are the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia, Immigration Department, Johor state government, Social Security Organisation (Socso) and the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis.

According to Saravanan, an estimated 400,000 Malaysians are working in Singapore, with almost 100,000 of them commuting daily from Johor Bahru while the rest live in the republic.

The COVID-19 outbreak and rise in positive cases in Singapore have affected many Malaysian workers in the republic especially when some employers served notice of their companies’ closure, of between two weeks and one month, beginning from February, he said.

-- BERNAMA