Police to question Fernandez over statement

KUALA LUMPUR: The police will call Irene Fernandez for questioning as the Tenaganita chief continues to come under heavy fire for her latest controversial statement pertaining to foreign workers.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said police were keen to know her motive for making a statement to the Jakarta Post that Malaysia was unsafe for foreign workers.

He said this was not the first time Fernandez had indulged in bashing Malaysia.

“We can see it for ourselves, foreigners love coming here to work. This shows they are not afraid and enjoy and love working here," said Khalid.

He was speaking to the press after attending a special prayers ceremony in conjunction with the 205th Police Day celebration at Sri Kandaswamy temple in Jalan Scott, Brickfields.

More than 1,000 Indian police officers from the Klang Valley attended the prayers including former Selangor police chief Tan Sri P. Alagendra.

Fernandez has come under severe criticism for her comments reported in the Jakarta Post on Monday.

She was quoted as saying that Indonesia should not send any workers of any category to Malaysia as it was unsafe with no specific laws protecting them.

Fernandez had also claimed the government's newly-implemented RM900 minimum wage scheme would not cover such workers.

The Jakarta Post also reported Fernandez as saying the Malaysian government had discriminated against housemaids and plantation workers as they were excluded from the new minimum wage regulation.