Malaysian migrants feel Singapore is still a 'better' workplace

Migrants workers in Kuala Lumpur that Astro AWANI spoke to were mostly reserved in their comments, but revealed more about their hardships that some say could have contributed to the unheard of violence in the neighbouring state.

Hassan, a 47-year-old Bangladeshi in Chow Kit, who has worked in Malaysia for more than 22 years, expressed his thankfulness for being able to build a family in Malaysia, a place that was not 'home'.

"Workers over there (in Singapore are different) and here we do things differently. We are okay, we can work here. Even if we do something wrong here, any country wouldn't allow it," he said.

Hassan said that things are "good" in Malaysia because of his closeness with the local people.

"My (Malaysian) friends are like my brothers. If he is an uncle, he is my uncle; if she is an aunty, she is my aunty. I really like it here. I am satisfied."

"I don't really know about Singapore really because I am not there, but here it is easy to find money, we can move. If we don't disturb people, they don't disturbed us."

However, despite his positive outlook, Hassan, when prodded further revealed a darker side to the plight of migrants in Malaysia.

Asked if he was ever mistreated, Hassan said many face problems with documentation borne out of a system that migrant activists say have "failed".

"There are these agents who cheat us of our money," said Hassan, who shared about several cases where workers were promised work permits but did not get them.

"He (my agent) told me tomorrow, the day after, and after two years, he did not give me the documents I needed. We want to live, not to die, we need those documents," he said.

According to migrant activist Abdul Aziz Ismail, who is a member of the Anti-Human Trafficking Council Selangor, Hassan's case and the problems of foreign workers around the world are similar.

"Why did the riot in Singapore happen? Migrant workers around the world are being exploited, in terms of documentation, suppression of wages, all the pressure they face. Even all the hard work they have done, they are still suppressed, they are tortured mentally," he said.

Abdul Aziz said all these could have culminated into a sentiment of dissatisfaction for workers in Singapore.

"Even a small accident, a small spark can lead to a revolution, or riot like this," said Abdul Aziz, who claimed to have 'rescued' several Malaysians from "deplorable" conditions in Singapore.

He said that among the problems in Singapore similar to Malaysia were the confiscation of travel documents, low and unpaid wages and exploitation by employers or third party agents.

"These things amount to psychological confinement for these migrant workers," he said.

However, Abdul Aziz said that Singapore was "better" compared to Malaysia in terms of having a better database in the documentation of foreign workers.

"At least in Singapore they have better data, when police go after the workers, they won't be detained for 14 days like in Malaysia," he said.

Sumi, a 39-year-old hotel housekeeping worker, said that the pay and the healthcare policies in Singapore was better compared to Malaysia.

"If possible I want to go back, but I had family issues," said the Indonesian, who previously worked in Singapore for four years as a maid.

Though she admitted that there are employers who are good and bad, Sumi felt that the most important thing was doing a good job.

"If we do our jobs well, usually our employers will treat us well too," she said.

Indian national S Karuna, 29, said he heard that working in Singapore was "really good".

"Good pay there, in Malaysia we can almost compare, but it's more over there."

Restaurant worker R Mathi, 45, said that while he was not sure what happened during the Sunday riot, he knows how hard it is to make a living as an immigrant.

“Angry, of course the Indians there are angry, it is difficult to live," said Mathi, who works in Brickfields, the Little India of Kuala Lumpur.