Malaysia ready to discuss “Indonesian Maids Now on Sale”

Bagus BT Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Mon, October 29 2012, 9:28 PM

The Malaysian government says it is ready to discuss the issue of the “Indonesian Maids Now on Sale” advertisement at a meeting scheduled for November.

The Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta said on Monday that the Malaysian government condemned the advertisement and took the issue seriously. The statement said that the leaflets were “irresponsible actions”.

On Sunday, Migrant Care executive director Anis Hidayat found leaflets saying “Indonesian Maids now on Sale” in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The news went viral after Anis posted the picture of the leaflet in her twitter account @anishidayah.

The Malaysian Embassy said that both countries had formed a task force to resolve disputes among Indonesian migrant workers, their employers and agencies in 2011. “We can discuss the ad issue during a joint task force meeting in November,” the statement said.

Malaysia is home to 2.5 million Indonesian migrant workers, many of them are employed as domestic helpers or on plantations and construction sites. (cor/lfr)