Once again our politicians are trying to create a problem where none existed. By trying to introduce a rule whereby Malaysian employers of foreign maids can o­nly hire maids of the same religion, they are so blatantly imposing their distorted values o­n the Malaysian public.

In Indonesia, where most of our domestic helpers originate from, religion is not a state matter and it would be unjust of our Malaysian politicians to try to impose restrictions upon them based o­n their religion. Foreign maids should have knowledge of whom they will be working for and the decision to accept employment should be entirely theirs.

If the Malaysian politicians in the government wants to impose their views o­n other nationalities then I ask potential foreign domestic helpers to refrain from stating their religion o­n any documents. They should not feel wrong as they must believe that religion is personal and has nothing to do with the ruling political party.

Since they do not have to declare their religion in their home country, then they should also refrain from doing so when they seek employment in Malaysia. Potential Malaysian employers should also refrain from stating their religion in all their application forms as it is irrelevant to our need for a foreign domestic helper.