KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s decision to ban restaurants from hiring foreigners has sparked outrage among eatery operators, who accused the Human Resource Ministry of bulldozing through the decision.
Those who attended a meeting with minister M. Kulasegaran yesterday expressed dissatisfaction that their views and concerns over the matter were totally disregarded.
Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) president, Ayoob Khan Muhamad Yakub - who attended the meeting, said the ministry did not geet feedback from any resturant operators associations before the decision was made.
“Only Presma and the Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners' Association (Primas) attended the meeting with 22 other representatives from other sectors.
“When Kula brought up this issue, we voiced our opinions and objections. He told us to come up with a new idea on this matter and gave us a week to do so.
“However, we were shocked when he announced the new ruling at a press conference after the meeting,” he said.
Ayoob Khan said the directive had been announced hastily without any proper research.
“We wanted to highlight problems we faced but he (Kula) brushed all this aside and just announced the new ruling.
“This is unfair for all the restaurant operators in the country,” he said.
Ayoob Khan said various restaurant operators associations planned to meet and collectively object the ruling soon.
Meanwhile, Primas vice president Krishnan R.C said Kula should not come up with a new policy without checking on the pros and cons.
“This is giving all the restaurant operators a really hard time.
“The decision should be thoroughly thought out as it will have great implications on everyone,” he said, adding the government should be more considerate to all parties involved.
The Klang Valley Malay Food Operators (Permas) president Ayob Abd Majid, meanwhile, said the directive was not clear.
“We are not sure if the directive is a blanket policy or just affecting certain types of restaurant operators,” he said.
“Those who attended the meeting with Kula also did not include all the food operators in the country,” he said.
Ayob said for Malay food itself, there were different types of cooking, and Kulasegaran did not understand that not all Malays can cook Minang food or Tom Yam.
He added that Kulasegaran should concentrate on solving the problem of foreigners operating restaurants instead of curbing foreign cooks working with local food operators.
“I see no problems with foreign cooks working with us as they ensure the authenticity of the dishes cooked,” he said.
He said the association also planned to call for a press conference after their meeting with all the food associations.
