'Racist' to say migrant workers prone to social ills, Penang CM told

An activist has condemned Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow for reportedly saying that migrants should not live in residential neighbourhoods due to being prone to social ills.

According to social activist Stanley Sudhagaran, Chow's remarks appear "racist and xenophobic."

"I find it very disappointing as it comes from the chief of state," he told Malaysiakini.

Chow told Free Malaysia Today yesterday that the alcoholism and crime seen among some migrant workers living in residential areas had become an annoyance to locals.

As Stanley stressed, alcoholism, social ills and crime are not peculiar to any ethnicity or nationality.

"They (foreign workers) clean our s**t and collect our garbage. They plant our food and build our homes. Is this how we return respect to them?

"As a leader, I expect him to be a unifying factor and not to cause more hatred and prejudice towards the migrants in our state," he said.

Read more: Migrant worker hostel policy not 'racist', insists Penang CM

Yesterday, Chow handed over a certificate of completion to Westlite Accommodation, a 6,600-bed migrant worker dormitory in Bukit Minyak run by Centurion Corporation Ltd.

Costing RM72.3 million, the hostel houses a three-block, 11-storey dormitory with lifts, a food court, supermarket, mobile phone shop, internet services, prayer rooms, futsal court, gymnasium, volleyball and badminton courts and a sick bay.

Ensure migrant rights protected

Stanley also urged Chow to give his assurance that the new accommodation built for these workers would not be run like a military detention camp, where the rights of these workers could be abused.

"For example, is there a time curfew, alcohol ban? These would be blatant human rights abuses.

"The workers should be allowed to freely live their lives in accordance with Malaysian law, and no one should be allowed to control how they are to live their lives outside of working hours," he told Malaysiakini.

"Also, we need to ensure the accommodation is not a breeding ground for extortion by the police and other criminals.

"The state needs to ensure the police does not go there simply to bully these workers and extort money from them."

On the same note, Parti Sosialis Malaysia central committee member Choo Chon Kai said the state and employers should bear the responsibility to provide adequate housing for migrant workers.

This is to ensure the workers’ wellbeing and quality of life, he added, as they have contributed much to our economy.

"It's not the proper way to put them into concentration camp-like facilities that segregate them from local communities, as this would widen the distance among communities by reinforcing stereotypes.

"Politicians should not fuel stereotypes of migrants and xenophobia with irresponsible statements," he stressed.

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