Kota Kinabalu: There is urgent need for a Sabah Ministry of Labour or Human Resources Ministry as agreed under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 where labour matters like work permits are needed for non-Sabahan workers.
The founding fathers wanted this to prevent Sabah being swarmed by non-Sabahans in a state with a lower population count and skill, education attainment, etc.
Borneonisation and higher education opportunities were supposed to empower more locals to assume positions being vacated by departing expatriates.
This was highlighted at a forum on “Borneonisation & Labour Law” at the Tanjung Aru State Library multipurpose hall on Saturday organised by Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights (Sabar).
“The Federal Government’s management of labour has not effectively addressed Sabah’s acute shortage of skilled and semi-skilled workers in the plantation and construction sectors,” said labour law expert lawyer cum author Sukumaran Vanugopal.
He noted the exploitation of migrant workers deprived of minimum wages and benefits with Sabah having the highest non-Malaysian population.
Sukumaran opined that Borneonisation has been sluggishly slow and Sabah with 12 per cent of Malaysia’s population should at least fill up to 12 per cent of federal positions in the federal government, so as to influence policies with Sabah’s interests in mind.
“The Federal Government’s policies are often rigid and misaligned to meet the actual needs of the Sabah labour market,” he said, adding they are more tuned for the peninsula labour market.
This resulted in seasonal labour shortages in plantations and delays in approvals for foreign labour quotas and permits. Which, in turn, caused labour shortages and loss of revenue in plantations.
“This has resulted in undetected labour law violations in remote areas especially in the plantation and construction and service industries.
He also noted that federal’s minimum wage policies are uniform, thus ignoring Sabah’s economic disparities.
“They burden small businesses and fail to attract labour to high-cost urban areas like Kota Kinabalu. The policies are also not tailored to meet Sabah’s industry needs which require skills training specific to ecotourism and hospitality.”
According to Sukumaran, one of the pre-conditions Sabah must fulfil to bring labour affairs into its Legislative List is the creation of a State Ministry of Human Resources with capacity, plans and strategies.
Currently, the State Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation oversees manpower matters but is more focussed on other responsibilities that include education, State library with interests from space rocket launching centre to artificial intelligence (AI) development.
He said a dedicated State Ministry of Education would help expedite local upskilling and education development with the set-up of new higher educational institutions, etc.
Sabah Employer Association (SEA) Yap Cheen Boon President concurred saying Sabah does not have a dedicated Human Resource Ministry despite having the second largest worker population in the country with two million.
He said MSMEs operating in low-productivity sectors contributed to lower GDP per capita, and the third lowest median salary in Malaysia – RM1,800, based on median monthly wages by state for the month of September 2023. However this is still higher than the minimum wage of RM1,700 effective February 2025.
“Sabah still has the highest unemployment percentage rate in Malaysia. In 2024, it was 8.71pc with 181,500 Sabahans out of work. For every three unemployed in Malaysia, one will be in Sabah.
“Most alarmingly, out of 1.9 million working population in the state, only 480,000 Sabahans regularly contribute to EPF and Socso, with the others forced to eke out a living in the grey “informal economy”.
He said without inclusivity to meet, discuss, gather inputs, and be heard, it is difficult for Sabah employers to play constructive roles as partners.
“This is exacerbated by unsound structure. Without effective representations, no effective labour policy can be formulated, implemented, and monitored through a feedback loop.” Yap pointed out that Sabah employers are not represented in the National Labour Advisory Council and the Minimum Wage Consultative Council.
He said in the short term, Sabah should set up and take charge of its own Sabah Labour Advisory Council. “It should comprise the Sabah government, Sabahan employers and employees with the power to deal with all labour and wage issues within Sabah’s context, including engaging with federal agencies”.
Vice Chair of the Malaysia Trade Union Congress (MTUC) Sabah Division, Margaret Chin Sat Peng, who is also the President of the Sabah Banking Employees Union suggested a tripartite system in Sabah comprising government, employers and employees to jointly resolve worker issues.”
She recalled how a Sabah GLC plantation operation treated its contract workers unsatisfactorily. There are such entities that take workers’ unions to court. And if the unions have no financial means to fight their cases, their members would be on the losing end.
A major vehicle retail company refused to allocate any vehicles to their sales personnel who joined the union, to sell, thus jeopardizing their livelihood with the organisation.
Another case in point was a contract worker with terminal illness who was promised RM1,200 monthly wages but was only remunerated RM1,000 a month. The union fought for her after her contract was not renewed to claim for just three months wages even though her case was winnable.
The union has to ensure that she got her minimum claim as soon as possible as her lifespan time was limited as she was suffering from a terminal illness.
