TEKAM wants to partner government on foreign worker hiring

The Malaysian Association of Suppliers and Employees Management of Foreign Workers (TEKAM) expressed interest on partnering the government in finding a solution and supplement its efforts in the recruitment of foreign workers into the country.

TEKAM's president Dato' Megat Fairouz Junaidi Tan Sri Megat Junid welcomes the government's announcement on the setting up of a single system to hire foreign workers without differentiating the source countries.

"We are eager to look and join at the new system. We welcome the plan and we are prepared to make it successful from the point of entry to the point of exit of such legal and trained foreign workers," he said, adding that TEKAM supports the present government policy to lessen dependence on foreign workers.

"We are ready to complement and supplement the government’s new effort to meet this objective."

Over the past week, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the setting up of a joint ministerial committee between the Home Ministry, Human Resource Ministry, and an independent committee chaired by either a top government official, former judge or secretary general under the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA).

Dato’ Megat expressed TEKAM's interest in being integrated to participate with this new committee to share its experience and enable the committee to have hands on information. At the same time, he said TEKAM would like to have its original status restored.

Set up in 2006, TEKAM has 149 outsourcing companies as members. However, since 2010, government enforcement did not allow the companies to manage the inflow of foreign workers, forcing many to close their business.

Dato' Megat said TEKAM would like to be the solution provider to SMEs that make up 92.5% of businesses in Malaysia.

"We will assure that there will not be an issue of illegal workers if we are engaged, tracked, supervised, authorised and monitored by the respective ministries.”

If engaged, TEKAM also promises to "safeguard the Malaysian Employment Act 1955 and provide responsible business ethics in a more professional manner without jeopardising our national security of any kind."

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