The news of Malaysia hiring 10,000 Bangladeshi workers by next year and not as part of 1.4 million envisioned earlier is somewhat puzzling. Many Bangladeshi workers applying for jobs in Malaysia had their hopes up for the last month, but now their plans appear to have undergone a reality check.
The confusion was created when some Malaysian dailies last month reported that the country would start hiring 1.4 million Bangladeshis in phases from 2014, misinterpreting a visiting Bangladeshi minister who said 1.4 million Bangladeshis had applied for the jobs. We wonder, however, if this is a sheer case of miscommunication or if there were other factors that went into this number game.
Of course, the people who are suffering in this confusion are not the Malaysian government or the Bangladesh government, or the newspapers, but the workers who had applied for the positions and felt positive about their move to Malaysia.
We urge newspapers and governments everywhere not to spell out such things without absolute confirmation, especially when it deals with people’s lives. When words are said by people in authority, or are printed, they are usually believed, so all concerned need to be careful while spewing out figures of manpower intake by any country. No confusing signal should be given when it involves a country hosting our workers.
The confusion was created when some Malaysian dailies last month reported that the country would start hiring 1.4 million Bangladeshis in phases from 2014, misinterpreting a visiting Bangladeshi minister who said 1.4 million Bangladeshis had applied for the jobs. We wonder, however, if this is a sheer case of miscommunication or if there were other factors that went into this number game.
Of course, the people who are suffering in this confusion are not the Malaysian government or the Bangladesh government, or the newspapers, but the workers who had applied for the positions and felt positive about their move to Malaysia.
We urge newspapers and governments everywhere not to spell out such things without absolute confirmation, especially when it deals with people’s lives. When words are said by people in authority, or are printed, they are usually believed, so all concerned need to be careful while spewing out figures of manpower intake by any country. No confusing signal should be given when it involves a country hosting our workers.
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