'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories

[Indos]

'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories ​

Sam Reeves and Sam Jahan

Agence France-Presse

Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka / Sun, December 13, 2020 / 06:13 pm

A view of Top Glove hostel in Klang, Malaysia Nov.20, 2020. (Handout/Reuters)

Bangladeshi migrant worker Sheikh Kibria recalls with horror the filthy, overcrowded dormitory where he was housed by the world's biggest rubber glove manufacturer when a COVID-19 outbreak erupted and infected thousands.

Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified. But in interviews with AFP, the South Asian migrants working flat out to make the gloves - who typically earn around $300 a month - described appalling living conditions, in cramped dormitories where up to 25 people sleep in bunk beds in a single room.

Some claim the company did not do enough to protect them despite repeated warnings. The scandal has added to growing pressure on the firm, already under scrutiny after the United States banned the import of some of its gloves over allegations of forced labor earlier this year. The infections also prompted factory closures and look set to have an impact on global supply.

Top Glove, which commands about a quarter of the world's market, has warned of delays to deliveries and rising prices. More than 5,000 workers - almost a quarter of the firm's workforce - have tested positive after the outbreak at an industrial area housing factories and dormitories outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

"The accommodation is so overcrowded," said the Bangladeshi worker Kibria. "The room itself is a bare minimum. It is quite impossible to maintain cleanliness when so many people live in a single room. It is like an army barracks - only less maintained." When the situation escalated last month, Top Glove began shifting infected workers to hospital and their close contacts to quarantine centers, reducing the numbers in dormitories.

Kibria, 24, was suspected of having COVID-19 so was first put in hospital, although he later tested negative and was moved to a hotel. But critics say the actions were too little too late. "The company had discussed decreasing people in the rooms before infections began but it never happened," a Nepali production line worker, Karan Shrestha, told AFP. "The rooms stayed crowded - and in the end coronavirus cases started to increase."

"The company didn't keep the workers safe. They are greedy and were more concerned about their income and profits," he added. AFP used pseudonyms to protect the workers' identities, as they were fearful about speaking out. As cases spiraled, the government ordered 28 Top Glove factories to close, out of the 41 it operates in Malaysia. Authorities are planning legal action against the company over poor worker accommodation, which could result in heavy fines.

The firm, which has 21,000 staff and can produce 90 billion gloves a year, insists it is making improvements. It has spent 20 million ringgit ($5 million) purchasing new worker accommodations in the past two months, and plans to build "mega-hostels" kitted out with modern facilities that can house up to 7,300 people.

"We are mindful there is much more to be done to uplift the standard of our employee welfare and promise to rectify shortcomings immediately," said managing director Lee Kim Meow. His comments came this week as the company announced a 20-fold jump in quarterly net profit to 2.4 billion ringgit ($590 million).

For those campaigning for low-paid migrants, the controversy highlights how companies continue to put profits before people. "The company, its investors and its buyers have prioritized the delivery of more gloves, more quickly and at higher profitability over the welfare of its mainly migrant worker labor force," said Andy Hall, a migrant labor specialist who focuses on Asia.

Malaysia, a relatively affluent Southeast Asian country of 32 million, has long attracted migrants from poorer parts of the region to work in industries ranging from manufacturing to agriculture. Top Glove says the vast majority of workers who tested positive have already been released from hospital, and some factories are now reopening. But some workers remain terrified at the prospect of returning to the production line, despite the company trying to enforce social distancing and providing protective gear. "If we work in the factory, I would be really scared," said Salman from Bangladesh, speaking from his hostel. "Even with extra safety, it is really tough to prevent an outbreak."

'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories

Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified.

www.thejakartapost.com

 

[Viva_Viet]

'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories ​

Sam Reeves and Sam Jahan

Agence France-Presse

Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka / Sun, December 13, 2020 / 06:13 pm



View attachment 696213
A view of Top Glove hostel in Klang, Malaysia Nov.20, 2020. (Handout/Reuters)

Bangladeshi migrant worker Sheikh Kibria recalls with horror the filthy, overcrowded dormitory where he was housed by the world's biggest rubber glove manufacturer when a COVID-19 outbreak erupted and infected thousands.

Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified. But in interviews with AFP, the South Asian migrants working flat out to make the gloves - who typically earn around $300 a month - described appalling living conditions, in cramped dormitories where up to 25 people sleep in bunk beds in a single room.

Some claim the company did not do enough to protect them despite repeated warnings. The scandal has added to growing pressure on the firm, already under scrutiny after the United States banned the import of some of its gloves over allegations of forced labor earlier this year. The infections also prompted factory closures and look set to have an impact on global supply.

Top Glove, which commands about a quarter of the world's market, has warned of delays to deliveries and rising prices. More than 5,000 workers - almost a quarter of the firm's workforce - have tested positive after the outbreak at an industrial area housing factories and dormitories outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

"The accommodation is so overcrowded," said the Bangladeshi worker Kibria. "The room itself is a bare minimum. It is quite impossible to maintain cleanliness when so many people live in a single room. It is like an army barracks - only less maintained." When the situation escalated last month, Top Glove began shifting infected workers to hospital and their close contacts to quarantine centers, reducing the numbers in dormitories.

Kibria, 24, was suspected of having COVID-19 so was first put in hospital, although he later tested negative and was moved to a hotel. But critics say the actions were too little too late. "The company had discussed decreasing people in the rooms before infections began but it never happened," a Nepali production line worker, Karan Shrestha, told AFP. "The rooms stayed crowded - and in the end coronavirus cases started to increase."

"The company didn't keep the workers safe. They are greedy and were more concerned about their income and profits," he added. AFP used pseudonyms to protect the workers' identities, as they were fearful about speaking out. As cases spiraled, the government ordered 28 Top Glove factories to close, out of the 41 it operates in Malaysia. Authorities are planning legal action against the company over poor worker accommodation, which could result in heavy fines.

The firm, which has 21,000 staff and can produce 90 billion gloves a year, insists it is making improvements. It has spent 20 million ringgit ($5 million) purchasing new worker accommodations in the past two months, and plans to build "mega-hostels" kitted out with modern facilities that can house up to 7,300 people.

"We are mindful there is much more to be done to uplift the standard of our employee welfare and promise to rectify shortcomings immediately," said managing director Lee Kim Meow. His comments came this week as the company announced a 20-fold jump in quarterly net profit to 2.4 billion ringgit ($590 million).

For those campaigning for low-paid migrants, the controversy highlights how companies continue to put profits before people. "The company, its investors and its buyers have prioritized the delivery of more gloves, more quickly and at higher profitability over the welfare of its mainly migrant worker labor force," said Andy Hall, a migrant labor specialist who focuses on Asia.

Malaysia, a relatively affluent Southeast Asian country of 32 million, has long attracted migrants from poorer parts of the region to work in industries ranging from manufacturing to agriculture. Top Glove says the vast majority of workers who tested positive have already been released from hospital, and some factories are now reopening. But some workers remain terrified at the prospect of returning to the production line, despite the company trying to enforce social distancing and providing protective gear. "If we work in the factory, I would be really scared," said Salman from Bangladesh, speaking from his hostel. "Even with extra safety, it is really tough to prevent an outbreak."

'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories

Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified.

www.thejakartapost.com

That's why I said I don't know why Malaysia got high benefit in RCEP while they use migrants workers. Malaysia should earn less profit than ID

 

[atan651]

the factory conditions are all the same in southeast asian countries, just look at the thrashy foreign worker dorms in singapore.

 

[Menthol]

'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories ​

Sam Reeves and Sam Jahan

Agence France-Presse

Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka / Sun, December 13, 2020 / 06:13 pm



View attachment 696213
A view of Top Glove hostel in Klang, Malaysia Nov.20, 2020. (Handout/Reuters)

Bangladeshi migrant worker Sheikh Kibria recalls with horror the filthy, overcrowded dormitory where he was housed by the world's biggest rubber glove manufacturer when a COVID-19 outbreak erupted and infected thousands.

Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified. But in interviews with AFP, the South Asian migrants working flat out to make the gloves - who typically earn around $300 a month - described appalling living conditions, in cramped dormitories where up to 25 people sleep in bunk beds in a single room.

Some claim the company did not do enough to protect them despite repeated warnings. The scandal has added to growing pressure on the firm, already under scrutiny after the United States banned the import of some of its gloves over allegations of forced labor earlier this year. The infections also prompted factory closures and look set to have an impact on global supply.

Top Glove, which commands about a quarter of the world's market, has warned of delays to deliveries and rising prices. More than 5,000 workers - almost a quarter of the firm's workforce - have tested positive after the outbreak at an industrial area housing factories and dormitories outside the capital Kuala Lumpur.

"The accommodation is so overcrowded," said the Bangladeshi worker Kibria. "The room itself is a bare minimum. It is quite impossible to maintain cleanliness when so many people live in a single room. It is like an army barracks - only less maintained." When the situation escalated last month, Top Glove began shifting infected workers to hospital and their close contacts to quarantine centers, reducing the numbers in dormitories.

Kibria, 24, was suspected of having COVID-19 so was first put in hospital, although he later tested negative and was moved to a hotel. But critics say the actions were too little too late. "The company had discussed decreasing people in the rooms before infections began but it never happened," a Nepali production line worker, Karan Shrestha, told AFP. "The rooms stayed crowded - and in the end coronavirus cases started to increase."

"The company didn't keep the workers safe. They are greedy and were more concerned about their income and profits," he added. AFP used pseudonyms to protect the workers' identities, as they were fearful about speaking out. As cases spiraled, the government ordered 28 Top Glove factories to close, out of the 41 it operates in Malaysia. Authorities are planning legal action against the company over poor worker accommodation, which could result in heavy fines.

The firm, which has 21,000 staff and can produce 90 billion gloves a year, insists it is making improvements. It has spent 20 million ringgit ($5 million) purchasing new worker accommodations in the past two months, and plans to build "mega-hostels" kitted out with modern facilities that can house up to 7,300 people.

"We are mindful there is much more to be done to uplift the standard of our employee welfare and promise to rectify shortcomings immediately," said managing director Lee Kim Meow. His comments came this week as the company announced a 20-fold jump in quarterly net profit to 2.4 billion ringgit ($590 million).

For those campaigning for low-paid migrants, the controversy highlights how companies continue to put profits before people. "The company, its investors and its buyers have prioritized the delivery of more gloves, more quickly and at higher profitability over the welfare of its mainly migrant worker labor force," said Andy Hall, a migrant labor specialist who focuses on Asia.

Malaysia, a relatively affluent Southeast Asian country of 32 million, has long attracted migrants from poorer parts of the region to work in industries ranging from manufacturing to agriculture. Top Glove says the vast majority of workers who tested positive have already been released from hospital, and some factories are now reopening. But some workers remain terrified at the prospect of returning to the production line, despite the company trying to enforce social distancing and providing protective gear. "If we work in the factory, I would be really scared," said Salman from Bangladesh, speaking from his hostel. "Even with extra safety, it is really tough to prevent an outbreak."

'Profits over people': Virus overruns Malaysian glove factories

Malaysia's Top Glove saw profits soar, and its stock price jump as much as 400 percent this year as countries worldwide rushed to buy protective gear as the pandemic intensified.

www.thejakartapost.com

It's a sign that humanity has lost its sense for the sake of materialism.

Just see coronavirus is on the rise greatly everywhere.


It's not that we can't do our job at the same time protect ourselves and others from the virus.

But it's the carelessness and ignorance toward others that are the plague of the world today.

The fall of conscience and the rise of selfishness.

It's actually a much complex problem, even how hard you try to explain and change people's view.


Many say, the current system of the world today is good because it makes the world better (massive wealth and technological advancement).

On the other side, humanity is falling.

 

[Viva_Viet]

It's a sign that humanity has lost its sense for the sake of materialism.

Just see coronavirus is on the rise greatly everywhere.


It's not that we can't do our job at the same time protect ourselves and others from the virus.

But it's the carelessness and ignorance toward others that are the plague of the world today.

The fall of conscience and the rise of selfishness.

It's actually a much complex problem, even how hard you try to explain and change people's view.


Many say, the current system of the world today is good because it makes the world better (massive wealth and technological advancement).

On the other side, humanity is falling.

Malaysia, Singapore ppl r raised as spoiled kids. Lazy, cant work hard in factories , that's why their economies r falling due to Covid when No migrant workers can come and work in their factories now.

 

[KurtisBrian]

Why do the migrants go there? Why do they do those jobs and thus help the unlawful takers play rich man?
It cannot be because migrants are being tricked and lied to because word would quickly get out about the conditions.

is it true slavery with a tiny paycheck to make it appear not to be slavery?

 

[Indos]

Do not be surprised! Because of Indonesia, there is this "Apocalypse" in Malaysia​

NEWS - sef, CNBC Indonesia
13 June 2022 13:00

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Malaysia is now facing a shortage of migrant workers. This has forced companies from palm oil plantations to semiconductors, forced to ignore orders and billions of sales.

Citing Reuters , the producer said the neighboring country was short of 1.2 million workers. A total of 500,000 for construction, 12,000 for palm oil, 15,000 for chips, 12,000 for medical gloves.

"Despite greater optimism in the outlook and increased sales, some companies are severely hampered in their ability to fulfill orders," said Malaysian Manufacturers Federation President Soh Thian Lai, which represents more than 3,500 companies.

"The situation is dire and very similar to a game of football against 11 people but only allowed to enter seven people," he added.

It is known that in April the company had actually asked for permits for 475,000 migrant workers. But Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources, which is responsible for approving the admission of foreign workers, only approved 2,065.

Despite lifting the ban on hiring foreign workers in February due to Covid-19, the number of migrant workers is still minimal. This is said to be due to the slow pace of negotiations with a number of countries of origin for migrant workers, including Indonesia and Bangladesh, especially regarding the protection of workers.

Indonesia itself, citing the same page, has yet to confirm this. But Bangladesh made a statement.

"Our main focus is the welfare and rights of our workers," said Bangladesh's Minister of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment, Imran Ahmed.

"We make sure they get standard wages, they have decent accommodation, they spend the minimum on migration and they get all the other social security."

This statement may be related to the release of the United States (US) regarding "forced labor" in several Malaysian companies in the last two years. Uncle Sam had previously also sanctioned seven companies because of it.

Actually, there has been no official research on the impact of this "apocalypse" of migrant workers on the Malaysian economy. However, referring to the Malaysian manufacturing PMI index there was a decline to 50.1 in May from 51.6 in April.

According to S&P Global data, barely left in expansion. As the sector lost most of its jobs since August 2020.

The palm oil industry, which accounts for 5% of Malaysia's economy, also gave a warning. There will be 3 million tons of crop lost in 2022 due to fruit rot not being picked, which means a loss of more than US$ 4 billion.

"The rubber glove industry estimates $700 million in lost revenue this year if labor shortages continue," Reuters wrote .

Jangan Kaget! Karena RI, Ada "Kiamat" Ini di Malaysia

"Kiamat" pekerja migran melanda Malaysia. Salah satu penyebabnya adalah Indonesia?

www.cnbcindonesia.com

 

[Indos]

Malaysia firms turn down orders as migrant labour shortage hits​

Reuters
PREMIUM
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ● Mon, June 13, 2022



Malaysian companies from palm oil plantations to semiconductor makers are refusing orders and forgoing billions in sales, hampered by a shortage of more than a million workers that threatens the country's economic recovery.

Despite lifting a COVID-19 freeze on recruiting foreign workers in February, Malaysia has not seen a significant return of migrant workers due to slow government approvals and protracted negotiations with Indonesia and Bangladesh over worker protections, say industry groups, companies and diplomats.

The export-reliant Southeast Asian nation, a key link in the global supply chain, relies on millions of foreigners for factory, plantation and service sector jobs shunned by locals as dirty, dangerous and difficult.

Malaysia firms turn down orders as migrant labour shortage hits

Despite lifting a COVID-19 freeze on recruiting foreign workers in February, Malaysia has not seen a significant return of migrant workers due to slow government approvals and protracted negotiations with Indonesia and Bangladesh over worker protections, say industry groups, companies and diplomats.

www.thejakartapost.com

@Bilal9 Indonesia and Bangladesh must be hand in hand to force our demand to Malaysia government.

 

[Bilal9]

Malaysia firms turn down orders as migrant labour shortage hits​

View attachment 853627

Reuters
PREMIUM
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ● Mon, June 13, 2022



Malaysian companies from palm oil plantations to semiconductor makers are refusing orders and forgoing billions in sales, hampered by a shortage of more than a million workers that threatens the country's economic recovery.

Despite lifting a COVID-19 freeze on recruiting foreign workers in February, Malaysia has not seen a significant return of migrant workers due to slow government approvals and protracted negotiations with Indonesia and Bangladesh over worker protections, say industry groups, companies and diplomats.

The export-reliant Southeast Asian nation, a key link in the global supply chain, relies on millions of foreigners for factory, plantation and service sector jobs shunned by locals as dirty, dangerous and difficult.

Malaysia firms turn down orders as migrant labour shortage hits

Despite lifting a COVID-19 freeze on recruiting foreign workers in February, Malaysia has not seen a significant return of migrant workers due to slow government approvals and protracted negotiations with Indonesia and Bangladesh over worker protections, say industry groups, companies and diplomats.

www.thejakartapost.com

@Bilal9 Indonesia and Bangladesh must be hand in hand to force our demand to Malaysia government.

Yes Bangladeshi govt. for sure is OK with sending more unskilled and skilled workers to Malaysia.

The problem is that immigrant workers are a source of cheap underclass politics in Malaysia, playing to local protectionist sentiments.

The general idea (in Malaysia) is that local Malay underclass men are,

a) Unwilling to work
b) Unwilling to stay with one marriage partner

so - Malaysian women tend to prefer Indonesian and Bangladeshis as husbands. There has been mass movements against immigrant workers because of this.

I honestly don't know if this is true or not. Just hearsay.

And this is now the subject of several 'protective' legislations pending in Malaysian courts and parliament. These are popular in anti-immigrant circles.

Immigrant Bangladeshi workers for sure I know are vilified in local Malaysian press - for no reason, in spite of being quiet and hardworking and often being the subject of unprecedented abuse and financial cheatery.

I have heard from several Bangladeshi friends staying in Malaysia that the Malaysian underclass feels that the hardworking Indonesian and Bangladeshis are 'taking over', hence the anti-immigrant rants and politicizing.

This is the main cause why Malaysians have problems getting employees for their factories.

Ultimately Malaysia as an advanced industrialized economy should concentrate on higher level value addition like semiconductors with an educated workforce -while leaving lower level value addition like making gloves to countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia, where the factory labor is significantly less expensive.