by the same writer, in which he has expressed some important issues such as :
- Firms opt to hire foreign workers in spite of Govt levies.. " Why? Because it is cheaper and easier to hire and retain trained foreign workers from under developed countries than to do the same for our people..."
- " Why should the government provide incentives to these companies only to see them employ foreigners?..."
I think the letter has addressed the urgent need to re-look into our now defunct policy of attracting foreign FDI investments into the country mainly through the apparent availability of cheap LOCAL labour. in the 70s, when the policy was introduced, incentives like tax holidays and cheap infrastructure and utility costs were given so that huge investments can be channelled into the country to help develop it, and more important, these foreign investments provide a significant source of employment for our nascent labour force, which then boasted of low wages, and a general proficiency in the English language.
Since Malaysia has now lost out in this area, ie our local labour are no longer cheap and our mastery of the English language has also plummeted, does the Govt still want to attract such FDI, when they have to IMPORT foreign labour to keep wages down? Why should we continue to provide incentives like tax holidays, cheap infrastructure and cheap resources like electricity, diesel and water, when all we get in return besides some Capex expenditure, are the increasingly negative effects of a burgeoning foreign labour force.
We should ask ourselves, what is the way out of this mess, and what must we do to spur our country to achieve a "high income" status. How will the NEM address this?
Definitely not by pandering to the selfish motives of these multi nationals, who have only profit in their hearts.
No Returns for us
Don't pander to the selfish motives of the multi nationals
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