Opposition Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen told Parliament yesterday that Sarawak's rights on immigration issues should in no way be undermined and eroded by the passing of the amendment bill to the Sarawak Labour Ordinance 1952.

Such rights, he pointed out, formed part of the agreement when Sarawak joined Sabah, Malaya and Singapore to form Malaysia in 1963.

As such, the posts of director and deputy director of the state labour department under section 3 of the Ordinance must be held by Sarawakians and that the majority of the officers should also be Sarawakians, he added.

Debating on the bill, Chong said the Sarawak Labour Ordinance, previously a state legislation, became a federal law upon the formation of Malaysia.

"The operation of the ordinance only affects those in Sarawak and thus has a local character which under the spirit of the Report of the Cobbold Commission leading to the formation of Malaysia, should fall under the state authority," the DAP legislator said.

"We must always remind ourselves that Sarawak and Sabah together with the Federation of Malaya formed Malaysia in 1963 under an international treaty and that the conditions and terms under the treaty must be revered," Chong added.

Change the title

Therefore, for constitutional and practical reasons, the Sarawak Legislative Assembly should be empowered to make further amendments to the ordinance.

He also said a change to the title of the ordinance as it is a misnomer since the amended ordinance covers a wider scope - not just workers doing manual work but employees of all categories earning below RM2500 monthly.

He proposed that it be called the Employment Ordinance like the Employment Act of Peninsular Malaysia.

Negotiations between the State and Federal Governments to update the Ordinance, last amended in 1964, started in the early 1980s.

Agreement was reached earlier this year that would put workers in Sarawak at par with their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia in terms of protection and benefits.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini 's Sarawak-based stringer.