Foreigners no longer allowed to serve customers directly at airports

PUTRAJAYA: Foreigners will no longer be allowed to serve customers directly at all airports in Malaysia, under a move to ensure that only local workers are the frontliners.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Cabinet committee on tourism that he chairs would issue the ruling to Malaysia Airports Berhad and operators of its outsourcing services soon.

“We will be informing them that only locals can provide services that call for direct contact with customers. We want these services, including those at the KL International Airport, to be done by locals,” he told a press conference after chairing the committee meeting yesterday.

Asked when the ruling would be enforced, Najib said it should be done “as soon as they can.”

“But we do note that they have to make some adjustments as currently, there are foreigners being employed for such jobs,” he said.

When met later, Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the Government’s policy was that only locals should serve as frontliners in hotels, and that airports should practise a similar policy.

Meanwhile, at the press conference, Najib also said tourists coming to obtain medical treatment would now be able to stay for up to six months and be given a multiple-entry visa.

“We believe the new ruling, which takes immediate effect, will attract more people to choose Malaysia for health treatment,” he said.