Malaysia is facing a shortage of maids from Indonesia and more than half of the agencies bringing them into the country could close down.

Raja Zulkeply Dahalan, president of the Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies, said some 60 percent of maid agencies registered with the Immigration Department were expected to wind up soon.

"Even the remaining 40 percent can barely keep themselves afloat," Raja Zulkeply was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times .

Bypassing Malaysia

Indonesian maids were bypassing Malaysia for places such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Saudi Arabia where they can earn between RM600 and RM1,700 a month, he said.

In Malaysia they generally earn about RM500 a month.

The association said demand for Indonesian maids in Malaysia was about 50,000 a year but in the last eight months the supply had declined by 30 to 50 percent.

There are some 350,000 foreign maids in Malaysia, 95 percent of whom are Indonesians, it said.

Malaysia and Indonesia in May signed a deal which will offer Indonesian maids better protection from abuse.