This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021

IN July, international news broadcaster Al Jazeera aired a documentary depicting Malaysia’s treatment of undocumented workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. The public backlash against Al Jazeera and its journalists became news, as angry netizens said the allegations of racism and discrimination against undocumented migrants in Malaysia were untrue.

Four months later, Malaysia’s treatment of migrant workers made headlines again, this time involving the documented ones, the ones who sold everything for proper documentation to work here, hoping to earn a better living so that they can uplift their livelihoods when they return home.

According to Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan, 91.1% of 1.6 million foreign workers in the country, or 1.4 million, are provided with accommodation that does not comply with provisions under the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 or Act 446.

Simply put, nine out of 10 foreign workers in Malaysia are housed in quarters that do not meet the minimum standards of living set out under the Act. Videos circulating on social media depicting overcrowded living quarters and unsanitary conditions seem to substantiate the statistic.

Glove maker Top Glove Corp Bhd, which enjoyed bumper profits and saw a meteoric rise in its share price this year, was identified as one of the offenders. The world’s largest rubber glove maker drew flak from Saravanan’s ministry after checks at its workers’ dormitories revealed “deplorable conditions”.

Earlier in July, two subsidiaries of Top Glove — Top Glove Sdn Bhd and TG Medical Sdn Bhd — were placed on the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) detention order list for the alleged use of forced labour.

The bad news did not stop there. In November, amid a resurgence of Covid-19, the Teratai workplace cluster, consisting largely of Top Glove workers in Klang, Selangor, as well as those from factories of other companies across more than 12 districts, broke out.

As at Dec 22, the cluster had resulted in 5,903 positive cases out of 8,796 that were tested. The cluster also resulted in one death: Nepalese Yamnarayan Chaudhary Tharu, 29, who worked as a security guard with Top Glove, died on Dec 12 after succumbing to Covid-19.

The company landed in more hot water after Reuters reported that Top Glove had fired a whistle-blower Yubaraj Khadka, for sharing photos of colleagues crowding into a factory without social distancing in place in May. On Sept 23, Top Glove had sent Khadka a letter terminating his employment.

Top Glove has since vowed to rectify its shortfalls, saying it had spent about RM20 million on 100 new apartments for its workers in Meru, and is working very closely with the authorities to ensure compliance with Act 446. It also said whistle-blowers will no longer face termination and three helplines for worker complaints have been established.

Still, Top Glove is not the only Malaysian company with alleged shortcomings when it comes to the treatment of foreign workers. The labour-intensive plantation industry, which employs mostly foreign workers, has seen two of its larger corporates hit by allegations of labour abuse.

In April, anti-human trafficking non-profit Liberty Shared submitted a petition to CBP with an allegation that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd uses forced and child labour to produce palm oil and related products — allegations that the company has refuted. In November, it appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers and an independent international non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialising in migrant worker rights to further strengthen its human rights commitments and compliance.

In September, FGV Holdings Bhd was issued a Withhold Release Order (WRO) by CBP against its palm and palm oil products, on allegations of forced labour. In response, FGV said it was taking all necessary steps and measures towards the revocation of the WRO, and remained committed to implementing its action plan under its affiliation with the Fair Labour Association.

Recently, the Malay Mail reported that another glove maker Laglove (M) Sdn Bhd, a unit of Brightway Group, was ordered to close its premises in Kajang, Selangor, because of the poor living conditions of its workers — a majority of whom were foreign workers — that violate Covid-19 safety regulations.

Saravanan, who had participated in the raids at Laglove, was reported as saying that he was shocked that the workers could live in what was described as “filthy and terrible conditions”, calling it “modern-day slavery”.

For those who have long advocated for the fair treatment of foreign workers, labour abuses are nothing new. Adrian Pereira, an executive director at the North South Initiative (NSI), a social justice NGO, says what is being reported in the media is just the “tip of the iceberg”.

“Act 446 is being pushed only now because Malaysians feel their health is at risk, as the foreign workers’ hostels are the source of the spread of Covid-19. We should have learnt from the Singapore experience many months ago when they experienced an outbreak, but Malaysian policymakers and enforcement agencies are too arrogant and did not listen, not just to us on the ground but also to the many international actors and health experts who warned us,” he tells The Edge.

“While the Malaysian media is taking foreign worker abuse issues seriously via more exposés and coverage, the government still does not seem to have the political will nor the competency to put an end to the labour abuses. We can conclude this based on the Public Accounts Committee report exposé on how the internal abuses have been going on for years,” he says.

“On top of that, the government-linked companies have shown poor records of managing foreign worker issues well, so how can we expect the other players, especially small and medium enterprises, to follow?

“Malaysia thinks its natural resources will continue forever, but that is not true. So, while we keep low-wage migrants for the processing of these natural resources, Malaysians were supposed to be upgraded to high-skill jobs. No politician or economist is raising this issue except for some minor TVET (technical and vocational education and training) reskilling agencies, which is not enough,” he adds.

For corporate Malaysia, this could serve as a lesson on corporate social responsibility, that is, actually walking the talk and ensuring the well-being of its greatest assets — its employees — be it local or foreign, as there should be no discrimination.

As for all Malaysians, perhaps this could be a wake-up call for us to start accepting criticism of our shortcomings from international observers and rectifying them rather than shooting the messenger, because continuing to do the latter only means that the joke is on us.

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