Dear Dato' Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein (nothing really, just a question of rumour about Immigration Department's Irregularity)

[UPDATED: 02 May]
Bernama reported (1 May):

The Cabinet has decided to defer temporarily the implementation of the foreign worker levy hike, Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr. S.Subramaniam said.

"The Cabinet felt that it was not the right time to implement the levy hike on foreign workers due to the uncertain economic situation,"

"With this decision, the implementation of the doubling of levy payment for foreign workers will be deferred temporarily until the economy improves," he said.

My comment: Then my request considered scrapped for now. ;)

[UPDATED: 25 April]
The news is confirmed already. Daily Express reported (25 April) in a very small paragraph:

"Meanwhile, in a statement the levy for foreign workers in the services, agriculture and factories sector will be increased effective May 1, this year."

However, the "rumour" of the different levy increase between the two agriculture sectors are still the same. If someone can correct me I'll be happy to add it here. ;)

[ORIGINAL POST]
First of all, allow me to congratulate Dato’ Seri on your appointment as Minister of Home Affairs Ministry. It is hoped that you will do as excellent as or better than the previous administration.

Now, to the task. I heard a “rumour” that spreads like wildfire. Nothing scandalous or mind-boggling really. (No, not like the bribery investigation of the department director/s.) Just that the last time when the then DPM (now PM) presented the Mini Budget (Financial Stimulus), he said ONLY the foreign worker’s levy for service sector would be raised (and 100% at that) which causes much furore from the service sectors especially from the restaurant owners.

The “rumour” I heard indicated that NOT ONLY the foreign worker levy from service sector would be increased 100% but also from and [KY: Edited 24 April] the manufacture sector and but also from [KY:Added 24 April] SMALL SCALE (less than 100 acres) AGRICULTURE sector. Starting 1st May 2009, all foreign worker employers from those sectors mentioned were needed to pay additional 100% the cost of levy aside from the usual fees. Exceptions were given to the construction and LARGE SCALE (100 acres or larger) AGRICULTURE sectors.

I am not against the notion that the employers should employ local instead of foreign workers. However, I would like to quote from an employer, Mr YS:

“Kalau pekerja tempatan boleh diharap kami tak bising punya. Ini! Baru kerja dua bulan sudah berhenti!” (If local workers can be depended then we have no qualm one. This! Just after a couple of months work they quit already!)

No, if I know Mr YS well, he isn’t the one who treat his worker badly. In fact, he rewards his workers by their work performance, accordingly and generously, even more so if the workers are local. According to another employer, Mr G, not all but most of the available meagre numbers of (former) local workers actually:

1. Demand more wages.
2. Demand more day off.
3. Do less work (less productive).
4. Have habit to disappear once supervisor is away.
5. Have habit to steal from employers.

Well, I could add more, but I’m sure you see what I mean. I know there are some fair employers (and unfair ones at that) and hardworking local workers out there. However, the case of bad impression of the local workers is not something that can be overlooked or brushed away. Okay, I’m straying from the main question.

The point is, if the department wanted to (according to that “rumour”) double the levy for hiring foreign workers, they should be FAIR to all. Supposedly you ask, “How unfair?” I suppose I can provide you with a table for comparison (based on Tawau Immigration Department Fee):

Sector	Usual Fee (RM)			Additional Fee (RM)	Total (RM)	Percentage Increase
	Levy	Pass	Process
Agriculture (Small-scale)	360.00	60.00	10.00	360.00	790.00	45.57%
Agriculture (Large-scale)	540.00	60.00	10.00	-	610.00	-
Construction	960.00	60.00	50.00	-	1,070.00	-
Manufacture	960.00	60.00	50.00	960.00	2,030.00	47.29%
Service	1,440.00	60.00	50.00	1,400.00	2,950.00	47.46%

If you can see from the table, all 3 double levy sectors have increase of at least 45% cost. However, please check between the two different scale agricultural sectors. The small-scale agriculture employers need to pay MORE than their large-scale agriculture “counterpart”. Talk about helping small time/scale agriculture! Sorry if I appear to be “shouting”. ;)

So, Dato' Seri, since Immigration Department is under your Ministry, can you confirm or deny this irregularity (with explanation how this “rumour” arise if it’s okay with you), and possibly (if confirmed that is), can you influent to have them fixed/amended (fairly), or postponed (which is preferable)?

Thank you for taking your time to look into this insignificant inquiry.

KY (An insignificant voter) ;)