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The impact of the Employment Restriction Act 1968

 



In 1969, the Malaysian Government began enforcing the Employment Restriction Act, 1968. This Act required employers to only engage Malaysian citizens. Any non citizen in their employ should be terminated with three months notice. Those Indians who had no citizenship papers then decided to return to India as initially the laws did not have  any provisions to assist  them to secure employment. They had lost their jobs and there appeared to be no prospects of how they are going to support their families without gainful employment. 


The South Indian Labour Fund was prepared to take them back to India at its own expenses as this was one of their primary functions i.e. repatriation of Indian Workers back to India. This triggered the interest of Indians who had been living in Malaya for many generations and had never set foot on Indian soil. It took about three months for the community leaders to realise the unfairness of the law. 


After much discussion and negotiations the Government came out with amendments to the Act allowing the issuance of work permits beginning with three months and with provisions for the renewal of such permits. The Employees Provident Fund that was meant as savings for old age had a provision that allowed a contributor to withdraw his savings under the Act if he intended to leave the country with no intention of returning. The prospect of taking out their old age savings proved to be an incentive and hundreds of Indians took advantage of this provision and gladly opted for withdrawal of their savings meant for old age. 


It was shortsightedness on their part as they were not aware of the harshness of leaving for India with no job in sight. It would have been different if they had roots in India and could return to their siblings or close relatives who had already established themselves in India. Community leaders too did not bother to caution them or they themselves were ignorant of the harshness of leaving their jobs and heading to India to an uncertain future. They were also not aware or perhaps  not bothered about the conditions for withdrawal of their savings that meant they would need to renounce their Malaysian citizenship and would not be allowed back into the country.   I included “not bothered”, as among those who left were educated Indians who had held civil service jobs, who took out their savings from the Fund and headed to a dream of a ‘Motherland’. When I last heard about these folks, I heard that they were unable to adapt to life in Indian cities and yearned  to return to Malaya but the country had closed its doors to this category of persons who had renounced their citizenship. They were Malayan born, had no roots in India, no village to fall back on and found themselves lost in a land that was foreign to them. They squandered their life savings on non- essentials. Those who were careful too, found that their savings were depleting - as they will if there is no source of income to replenish what has been withdrawn or spent. 


All contents (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com


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