Those from the sanctified hallways of government have admonished Malaysians for their unwillingness to take on the ‘dirty, dangerous and difficult’ (3D) jobs that now await another 1.5 million migrant workers who will be arriving from Bangladesh.

Someone from the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) recently tried to prove the Umno leaders wrong. They showcased how thousands of Malaysians have taken over the 3D municipal works that was heavily subcontracted and done by migrant workers previously.

Many who are opposed to bringing in another 1.5 million migrant labourers, given the nearly eight million foreign workers already floating in the country, are crying that Malaysians are being robbed of opportunities.

NGOs are supporting the public’s outcry and demanding that the minimum wage policy must be implemented and if paid right, Malaysians will take up the 3D jobs.

Meanwhile Malaysian union leaders and their representatives are claiming that it is not the salary that is the issue. They maintain that it is the status of the 3D jobs that Malaysians are shying away from.

Who is right and who is wrong?

Firstly, it is most unbecoming of leaders - and especially the deputy prime minister who in all likelihood may be harbouring ambitions to be the next prime minister of Malaysia, to label work as ‘dirty’.

All religions propagate honour and dignity for work. Work is a blessing as it provides humanity with a living. So, when a leader labels some jobs as ‘dirty’ he is sending out a very misguided perception about work. He miserably fails to uplift all work as contributing to humanity’s goodness.

Secondly, if there are Malaysians as in the case of the MPSP who are working as garbage collectors and street sweepers as well as those elsewhere in the country tending to their family plots in hills and valleys, it is most unjustified to peddle the claim that Malaysians are unwilling to do these ‘3D jobs’.

Thirdly, if indeed Malaysia has been a well-managed nation and is very progressive under the Barisan Nasional government over five decades, why are we still unable to implement better wages let alone the minimum wage scales? We are till this day still harping on importing cheaper labour?

The country’s 30 million population has about 20 million in the working age group of 15-64. Of these, only about 14 million are employed. We can safely extrapolate that some 5 to 6 million are jobless or unable to find work or be employed.

Why didn’t the BN government deploy school dropouts to be better prepared to take on the jobs that we now claim only foreigners are willing to do?

And what ever happened to all the trumpeting about setting up vocational schools and teaching agricultural knowledge for our youths who were definitely not university qualifications material?

Stop the blaming

Politicians and their paid stooges must stop the blaming and syllogism. Accept the fact that the government despite being voted in for over five decades failed to better prepare and manage the country’s human capital and social development.

If our leaders say these jobs now needing foreign workers are ‘dirty, dangerous and difficult’ they must first accept their failure in regarding work with such negative labels in the first place. Should they not be at the helm to lead citizens in thinking that all work is a blessing from above that awaits humans to fulfill?

If our leaders are claiming that the social status or ‘stigma’ attached to these 3D jobs is the reason why we must now hire another 1.5 million Bangladeshi citizens, then what have they done as union leaders to demand from the government to help build the true perception about work and to make work less dangerous and not too difficult?

If low wages paid by the industries concerned is the real issue, what have the leaders of BN done to ensure that citizens’ right to fair wages is protected, sustained and enhanced all these fifty over years?

A foreign worker is paid an average monthly salary of RM500 to RM900. And the government could not see to a minimum wage of RM1,300 for Malaysians over the decades?

'Malaysia Boleh’, ‘Corporate Malaysia’, ‘1Malaysia’ and ‘Transformasi’ - these are some of the slogans we have been screaming all this while. But we could not build Malaysians for the less than ten million jobs being taken over by foreign nationals while some 5 to 6 million Malaysians remain jobless or are unemployable.

In hard times, Malaysian leaders direct Malaysians to take on extra jobs to tide over the challenges. But get real. Look around. Every eatery, every pump station, everywhere we find a non-Malaysian working for RM600 to RM1,500.

Our leaders have failed. Our business community meanwhile capitalises on the opportunity to make extra profits with the easy and cheap hiring of foreign workers.

Meanwhile, let us remain contented with the failures of preparing our human capital and social development. For Malaysians we now know that these are dirty, dangerous and difficult jobs that only migrants must do.