People of Sarawak lured by job offers in Singapore were initially promised employment as hotel staff with a salary of about RM3,000 a month, but found themselves sent to work elsewhere in the island republic.

Not only that, their passports were taken away from them, hence limiting their movement, and also their ability to return home.

Many people from Sarawak have fallen victim to this employment scam, but the Johor Borneo Association said there was nothing much it could do, nor to bring the matter up to the police, due to lack of evidence.

Association chairperson Donny Linan said the association had received many complaints from Sarawak people of them being cheated.

"The complaints are made by those who were able to escape and most of them are in their 20s and 30s," he told Bernama in Johor Bahu recently.

Some of the masterminds Sarawakians

Donny said the mastermind in some of the cases were the Sarawak people themselves, who went into the interiors offering employment opportunities in various sectors in Singapore to local residents there.

"The young people, especially the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)-leavers who have never left home, are easily taken in by this, especially with the promise of good salary as they can help their families.

"With a salary offer of between RM2,000 and RM4,000 a month, the young people would easily jump for it," he added.

He said about 80 percent of those who lodged complaints of being cheated with the job offers in Singapore were from Kapit and the association had helped to send them home.

He said there were about 35,000 Sarawak people working and residing in Johor.

"As such, we are opening a Sarawak Information Centre in Pasir Gudang to look after their interests," Donny said, adding that the centre would begin operations on July 9.

Donny, who is a civil servant, said the centre, to be jointly-run by the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), would provide information on job offers in Singapore for the Sarawak-born people, as well as act as middleman to help solve their problems should they fall victims to job scams.

"This will indirectly reduce cases of Sarawak people being cheated of jobs in Singapore," he added

- Bernama