Plan to replace migrant workers with machines

PUTRAJAYA: If all goes well, the need for a huge number of migrant workers in Malaysia will soon be a thing of the past.

The country is pushing hard to achieve a high level of automation in labour-intensive sectors such as plantations to reduce dependence on migrant labour.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said the move would involve the introduction of modern technology.

“Of course, this will not happen overnight. Our target is to achieve this in three to five years.”

Zuraida said her ministry is conducting tests on various equipment designed for the various processes in plantations.

“We want to find equipment that is best suited for the sometimes undulating topography of our estates,” she said.

One of the equipment being tested is the “spider system”, that comprises a truck with five arms and a conveyor belt, used in the harvesting process. With the system, the workforce can be reduced by 30% to 40%.

Zuraida pointed out that once the cultivation and harvesting processes are automated, the reliance on cheap foreign labour could be reduced.

“That means we would also be able to pay higher salaries to locals who want to remain in the sector,” she said.

Malaysia’s dependence on migrant labour has led to many social problems, one of which is conflict among workers of different nationalities.

Allegations of poor working conditions, unsuitable living quarters and inhumane treatment have also beset the industry.

Data from the Statistics Department shows that as of the last quarter of 2021, there were 7.34 million migrants in Malaysia.

On allegations of mistreatment of migrant workers, Zuraida said most of the complaints had been “blown out of proportion” by foreign non-governmental organisations (NGO).

“They just hear it from one or two persons and quickly come to the conclusion that we are guilty of such transgressions. They don’t even bother to speak to us,” she said.

She claimed that some of the migrant workers had made wrong assumptions because they did not understand the Malaysian way of life.

“The NGO are taken up by the false accusations.”

Zuraida said the government was also plagued with allegations of child labour “simply because the NGO need to find new ways to attack us”.

“Is there any harm in children picking palm kernels to earn some pocket money? In Europe and the United States, children are allowed to work before or after school to earn extra money,” she said, adding that such NGO should give Malaysian authorities a chance to explain.

She said the accusations were among factors that prompted the government to look for ways to reduce its dependence on migrant labour, and that most of the attacks linked to palm oil were focused on its effects on health.

“Their products such as corn oil, soy oil and sunflower oil are actually not as healthy as palm oil,” she said, adding that major edible oil producers in the West had to compete with Malaysian palm oil producers for market share.

“They are just trying to hurt us to win a bigger share of the market.”

However, she said the market for vegetable oils would continue to grow and even now, production has not been able to keep up with demand.

“The market is big enough for everyone, so there is no need to attack palm oil.”

Zuraida said it is the government’s plan to make Malaysia the world’s largest producer of palm oil.

“We are now the second largest producer.”

To achieve that target, her ministry is going all-out to promote the product to large consumers such as India, China, Pakistan and the Central Asian republics.

“We will grow our market share where possible. We are not going to restrict ourselves,” she added.

M’sian sustainable palm oil-based products to be available in Dubai Feb 10, 2022 8:42 AM⋅Updated: 8:42 AM

Malaysian palm oil-based products, namely food products, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, will be made available at LuLu Hypermarkets in Dubai following a collaboration sealed between the Malaysia Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and Lulu International Group.

The MPOC and the Indian multinational conglomerate, which operates 224 retail stores in 22 countries worldwide, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) during the opening of the Sustainable Agricommodities (Food Agricommodities) Week at the Malaysia Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.

As part of the partnership, MPOC’s global consumer campaign, called the Malaysian Palm Oil Full of Goodness campaign, was launched at the Lulu Hypermarket at Silicon Oasis in Dubai yesterday.

“The promotional campaign is an extension of our activities to promote and spread awareness on Malaysia’s sustainable palm oil at Expo 2020 Dubai.ADSnull

“We are happy to partner with Lulu International Group, which is a major retail chain in Asia and the Middle East to promote Malaysia’s sustainable palm oil,” MPOC chief executive officer Wan Aishah Wan Hamid said.

She said this is MPOC’s first consumer campaign ever since the crop has been attacked from many aspects. Therefore, the council will aggressively address the issues for the consumers’ understanding.

“We hope that this is not exclusive only for Dubai, for the Dubai Expo, but we hope to go into the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region to also include Saudi Arabia, InsyaAllah,” Wan Aishah said.

‘Campaign will promote palm oil products’

She also said the campaign will promote palm oil products by Malaysian manufacturers, whereby Lulu Hypermarket will directly source the products from participating Malaysian manufacturers for promotion at selected Lulu outlets.

The MPOC, she said, together with the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) is spearheading Malaysia’s week-long trade and business programme – Sustainable Agricommodities (Food Agricommodities) Week – at the world expo from Feb 7-12, 2022.

The programme highlights Malaysia’s commodities of palm oil, pepper and cocoa.

“MPOC is showcasing the Malaysian palm oil industry’s sustainable initiatives and management. Both aspects are vital in ensuring that palm oil remains the main pillar of the domestic economy, as well as a globally accepted food source.

“The initiatives include a mandatory certification scheme, regulatory guidelines, good agricultural practices and the development of cutting-edge technology by the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry,” she said.

The concept of sustainable agri-commodity further provides a strong platform for Malaysia in expanding the global market for palm oil exports, Wan Aishah explained.

“The sector has contributed significantly in providing a continuous inflow of earnings through the export of the raw commodity and value-added products,” she said.

Palm oil fruit bunches being unloaded to a palm oil mill in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan 

In 2021, palm oil exports earned US$24.6 billion (RM103 billion) for Malaysia.

Malaysian palm oil exports in 2021 were recorded at 15.56 million tonnes, while production was at 18.14 million tonnes.

This also accounted for 24 percent of the world’s palm oil production and 31 percent of exports.

Malaysian palm oil and palm oil products exported to the Middle East amounted to 2.4 million tonnes, with a value of US$1.7 billion (RM7.15 billion).

The United Arab Emirates took up 10 percent of the total palm oil and palm oil products exported to this region, valued at US$192 million (RM804 billion).

The estimated export value of palm oil and palm oil products to the Middle East in 2021 was approximately US$2.5 billion (RM10.46 billion).

This is mostly used in the industrial frying sector, margarine and vanaspati manufacturing, as well as ingredients for bakery and confectionery products.

Malaysia’s overall participation in Expo 2020 Dubai is led by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) with Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation as implementing agency.

Indiscriminate logging gives timber industry a bad name

LOGGING is in the news. The recent floods that caught many unprepared have sparked the new discussions.

Logging has been blamed, as timber logs in rather large numbers appeared with the gushing floodwaters. But this was denied.

Experts on geological phenomena suggest that the logs came from the flood-induced uprooting, and their skins were peeled off by the abrasive nature of sands and stones carried by the fast-flowing floodwaters.

The other story that led to the logging debate was the recent tiger sightings in Gua Musang, Kelantan. Some association between logging and tiger conservation became a subject of much public ridicule. 

Some of the statements were taken out of context. The truth lies in between. Let us look at the facts.

First, few would disagree that timber is an important raw material for many applications in life. Housing is one industry that has always depended on timber.

This was before concrete took over as the material of choice. But in this era of sustainability, the world is revisiting timber as a preferred material considering its lower global warming potential. 

Now scientists have come out with new ways to use timber, even in high-rise buildings. Advances in adhesive technology make such a feat possible.

In Australia and the United States, timber is widely used for building houses. Furniture making is also a major application for timber.

In Malaysia, to some extent driven by the declining supply of natural forest timber, rubberwood has replaced the traditional timber in furniture-making.

In fact, rubberwood furniture is a big export earner, raking in revenues of more than RM10 billion a year.

Since timber commands a robust world demand, the motivation to supply is the economic rationale behind the global timber business. The logical source is, of course, the natural forests.

But due to increasing environmental pressures, coupled with the decline in natural forest areas as a result of decades of exploitation and development, increasingly we see the growth of forest plantations.

Throughout the world, the rise of forest plantations has become common. This is where forest timber species are grown and managed as plantations.

In Malaysia, through the soft loan initiatives by the government, forest plantations have taken off rather well. 

The first forest plantations, which were expected to mature last year, are located in Kelantan, Pahang and Selangor in Peninsular Malaysia and in Sarawak, with an expected yield of 3.78 million m³ of logs.

The plantation project is focused on two species — rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) and Acacia mangium.

Apparently, more than 80 per cent of the forest plantations use rubber as the crop. Many believe there is still room for more.

One factor that drives global interest in forest plantations is the environmental complications arising from harvesting timber logs from natural forests.

The recommended practice of selective sustainable logging still faces challenges in execution.

Many still resort to the traditional indiscriminate logging practice to extract timber from natural forests.

It is not just the issue of indiscriminately chopping down all the trees, whether big or small, that has been the subject of criticism. It is also the way the harvested logs are transported out.

The roads built to bring in heavy machineries and transport the logged timbers via lorries are mostly done without due consideration for the environment.

Incidents of erosion have been common. Not to mention the resulting siltation of nearby rivers. The repercussions would be more devastating if the logging is done in sensitive water catchment sites.

The concern over indiscriminate logging is not new. The country has put in place rules and regulations for sustainable selective logging. But enforcement is weak.

Many are calling for a change. Most developed economies not only adopt the selective logging technique, but also use sophisticated drone technology to transport the logs out. 

This shows that change is not impossible. It is time we embraced a more sustainable logging practice instead of indiscriminately cutting down trees. Logging is, thus, not the issue. The way logging is done is the concern.

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The writer is a professor at the Tan Sri Omar Centre for STI Policy, UCSI University

Rubber market to trade range-bound with upside bias next week

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian rubber market is expected to trade range-bound with an upward bias next week, as demand is expected to strengthen following stock-up activities.

Denis Low, the immediate past president of the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association, said there will be sporadic buying and replenishment activities ahead of the unusually early wintering of rubber trees.

“Normally, the rubber wintering season take places at end-February until end-April. The uncertainty caused by such intermittent wintering instead of blanket wintering due to climate change may have a negative impact on the supply side, thus causing the price to be volatile,“ he told Bernama.

As such, Low expects the latex yield to be affected by about 40 per cent to 50 per cent.

He said the uncertainties in oil prices and the volatile US dollar also may have an impact on the rubber prices and demand as well.

On a weekly recap, the market closed higher, supported by surging benchmark crude oil prices amid quiet trading in the regional rubber futures markets due to the absence of Chinese traders following the week-long Lunar New Year holidays.

On a weekly basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s (MRB) reference physical price for Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 increased four sen to 723.0 sen a kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk rose 11 sen to 600.5 sen per kg.

At 5 pm on Friday, MRB’s closing price for SMR 20 stood at 723.5 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk was at 600.0 sen a kg.

Abd Ghani|Johor 05-02-2022

Leadership is one’s ability to influence others to achieve common goals. To accomplish this, a leader needs to possess skills that can effectively communicate goals, motivate others, help others improve, give support when needed and ensure the well-being of Malaysian… Zuraida Kamaruddin possesses all the qualities and experiences needed to lead Malaysia

Compared to male leaders, female leaders are more likely to attend to followers’ personal needs, be open to new ideas and others’ opinions, and reward the satisfactory performance of followers in a consistent manner.

On the other hand, male leaders are statistically more likely to only stress meeting the standards, wait until problems become severe before attending to them, and/or withdraw or be absent during critical junctures.

In a study that examined gender and leadership styles, researchers found that, compared to male leaders, female leaders use more transformational leadership (inspiring, caring and encouraging) and also engage in more of the contingent reward behaviors (this for that in a consistent manner).

Meanwhile, male leaders tend to adopt manage by exception style (only intervene when problems become severe)

Abd Ghani|Kuala Lumpur 03-02-2022

It would be political suicide for the two years old Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to even investigate on its leaders at this stage. This is what happens when the partie’s fundamentals are flowed…

The ideology of the party from day one was at stake as it’s leaders were not clean as claimed to be Strengthening the agenda against corruption and abuse of power to establish good governance practices, honesty and integrity

Many top leaders in the PPBM still today carries the stigma of their past unregulated activities, Which they think the RAKYAT have forgotten. They are wrong this time around.

Firing Zuraida Kamaruddin would be a big lose to PPBM. She is already an irreplaceable lose to PKR. Zuraida Kamaruddin is certainly the most principled and influential woman politician in Malaysia after Rafidah Aziz

The axing of the top well known public figure Zuraida Kamaruddin will cast a bad omen to the PPBM and its leaders. The Watergate Scandal was the downfall of Richard Nixon. Now In Malaysia the downfall of PPBM not a scandal but PPBM Leaders who are associates with unregulated activities and lack of vision whom cannot inspire the RAKYAT and lead

Anyway, Bersatu is an ailing Party with an unpredictable lifeline,depending very much on the Johor Elections. Maybe many more will leave Bersatu after the announced results.

Anyway What proof is there that those Bersatu Management Committee Members calling for Zuraida’s expulsion were themselves not Party Hoppers before joining Bersatu?

Isn’t the Bersatu President a confirmed Party Hopper previously from Umno , Harapan to finally Bersatu?. So what is the big deal about Zuraida Kamaruddin planning to form her own platform PBM (Party Bangsa Malaysia).

MPIC Agrikomoditi Tour Aims To Educate The Timber Industry On Act 446

Kuala Lumpur January 24, 2022

With the opening of the border for foreign workers to enter Malaysia, there has been trepidation among business owners who employ them. This is mainly because with the amendment made to Act 446 of the Workers Minimum Standard if Housing and Amenities 1990, where violation can lead to RM200,000 fined or jailed up to three years or both.

One of the largest sectors that employ foreign labour is the plantation sector, in order to get these owners up to speed on the latest revision, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities embarked on the Agrikomoditi Tour in efforts to bring awareness to Act 446.

Focusing on the timber sector, the ministry, through a series of tours that began last year, was aware of the contribution made by the sector as the third major contributor to the agriculture sector, while the furniture industry is the main contributor to the country’s exports for the sector. So it was imperative that the industry continues to progress and grow positively with all the right systems put in place including on the welfare of workers.

Among the educational briefing carried out during the road tour was the clarification of Act 446, which has been fine-tuned, as well as shedding light on the use of an online Temporary Employment Visit Pass(for foreign workers) that has been refined for employers to register and monitor their workers.

Malaysia is a big brand at the global level, the country’s furniture exports are the 12th largest and the furniture players are recognised as producers of high-quality wooden furniture. Hence the need to elevate the industry and be conscious in its social responsibilities.

Abd Ghani|London 24 January 2022

The Malaysian palm oil industry through Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF) remains committed in supporting the CONSERVATION of ORANGUTANS as an endangered and protected wildlife species and one million FOREST TREE PLANTING CAMPAIGN affirms the Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin in her recent JELAJAH AGRIKMODITI “KeluargaMalaysia 2022” Campaign together with the Prime Minister Dato Seri Ismail Sabri on 19 January 2022

To that end, this year MPOGCF has provided funding to Sabah Wildlife Department of RM1.5 million in their effort to support its population survey on the status and long- term viability of orangutan in Malaysia…

In addition, her Ministry initiated the one Million Forest Tree Planting Campaign, a 10 year project in collaboration with Forestry Department of Malaysia as part of the industry’s initiative in orangutan habitat and reforestation, with a funding of RM28 million…

These initiatives reflect the role that the Malaysian palm oil industry has been playing as an active partner in orangutan conservation alongside its continuous advocacy in sustainable oil palm practices… said the Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin an opponent of cruelty to animals.

#orangutan #wildlifeconservation #borneo #MPOGCF #reforestation

Abd Ghani|Sibu Sarawak 07th January 2022

The Parti Bangsa Malaysia’s youth and women can be a creative force, a dynamic source of innovations, and they have undoubtedly, throughout history, participated, contributed, and even catalyzed important changes in political systems, power-sharing dynamics and economic opportunities in Malaysia

However, youth also face poverty, barriers to education, multiple forms of discrimination and limited employment prospects and opportunities…

Opportunities for youth to engage in governance and participate in political and decision-making processes depend largely on the political, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts where social norms in many parts of the world result in multiple forms of discrimination against young women and Malaysia is not exceptional…

The focus on youth and women , in terms of their engagement in the political arena, is a relatively new priority but extremely timely, particularly in light of recent events and democratic transitions, in Malaysia as well as other regions says the senior member of Parti Bangsa Malaysia

The Malaysian political crisis and the timely “Theme RESET Action for Youth and women for 2030 and beyond” have touched upon the importance of youth and women participation in decision-making, by the newly formed Parti Bangsa Malaysia in Malaysia