KUALA LUMPUR: The salary for Indonesian domestic helpers will start at RM1,200, in line with Malaysia's minimum wage requirements.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said the government was unable to meet the Indonesian government's demand for its domestic workers to be paid a minimum salary of RM1,500.
He however said employers can at their own discretion pay their domestic workers RM1,500 or more if they so wish.
"When we discussed (with Indonesia), even though I liked the idea, I couldn't agree with RM1,500 because our minimum salary was RM1,200 (at that point).
"Despite pressure from Indonesia, it was impossible to reach (a minimum salary of) RM1,500.
"It can start with RM1,200, but it the employer wants to pay RM1,500, they can," he said.
Saravanan was speaking to reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic workers on April 1.
Malaysia is expected to receive around 10,000 domestic workers after Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Saravanan also noted that the maximum cost of hiring Indonesian domestic workers is expected to be lower than the widely-reported figure of RM15,000.
He said with the reopening of Malaysia's borders, the quarantine process has been removed thus reducing the overall cost.
He said the cost of bringing a domestic worker from Indonesia to Malaysia was previously estimated to be more than RM9,000. This, he said, included the levy payment as well as quarantine and insurance costs.
The cost of sending a maid from Indonesia to Malaysia, meanwhile, is between RM4,000 to RM5,000 .
Saravan said with the removal of quarantine requirements, the cost of bringing in the workers is expected to be reduced from RM9,000 to RM6,000.
He also clarified that the RM15,000 figure was not fixed.
"I did not say RM15,000. When we started discussing with Indonesia, we still had issues such as quarantine and health requirements, so the initial discussion involved additional costs because it involved hotel quarantine.
"As such, we mentioned that it might cost about RM15,000 or lower as some people had said they had to pay up to RM25,000 to get a maid," he said.
He said the government will also renew its memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India as well as enter into talks with Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh to bring in domestic workers into the country.
"I will visit Cambodia and Vietnam soon to speak with their governments on this," he said.