Recently, veteran Star columnist VK Chin gave excessive praise to the under-performing Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn, who has failed in delivering many of his ministry's important agendas, and ignored the interests of 10.4 million workers.

Fong's policies have repeatedly created low value-added jobs for foreign workers, while ignoring their basic rights. By implementing double standards in the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act, his ministry has tarnished the image of the government in the eyes of the international labour community.

Fong has encouraged a 'hire Malaysia last' policy among employers, by supporting the intake of foreign labour. For example, a recent hiring by Goodyear saw 50 Malaysian applications rejected for the 100 positions available.

At the moment, more then one million foreign workers have been approved by the task force for employment, at the expense of Malaysian job seekers.

Fong is also promoting an inhumane policy by allowing employers to exploit foreign workers. The Malaysia- Indonesia memorandum of understanding contains clauses which would be deemed in violation of universally-recognised principles of human rights.

Foreign workers are denied the right to keep their own passports. They are not protected by local unions.

Although Fong has set up the Electronic Labour Exchange, enabling job seeker to match qualifications and experiences with employers' needs, he has also aggressively campaigned for the agent-to-agent recruitment of foreign workers - creating the biggest 'human trade cartel' in Southeast Asia.

The policy creates human supply-chains between labour-supply nations and Malaysian cartels. Both employers and employees become subject to exploitation by the appointed employment agents.

As a result of such an irresponsible policy, human trafficking activities have become a lucrative underground business; currently there are more than 800,000 illegal Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

Fong has also failed to protect the Employees' Provident Fund savings of Malaysian workers, by failing to recognise the conflict of interest in the EPF Board or to act firmly to prevent further abuse.

EPF's RM500 million loan to Time Telecommunications incurred losses of more than RM200

million. The purchases of 29 percent of MAS shares from Technology Resources Industries, incurred for EPF an immediate paper loss of more than RM900 million.

EPF has suffered some RM12 billion paper losses on its portfolio investment, while its subsidiary MBSB registered another RM2 billion loss in many unrelated investment programmes.

It appears that Fong has never addressed the EPF issue at cabinet meetings nor voiced out concern about the abuse of EPF monies. It is time that Malaysian journalists seriously ponder their role in reporting the truth, rather than deceive readers to please their biggest shareholders.

If a Human Resources Minister cannot serve the needs of the working class, the what good is he in cabinet?