MM2H will put Sabah at great disadvantage, says Darell Leiking
26 Aug 2021
By Wartawan Nabalu News
KOTA KINABALU: The Deputy President of Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) Datuk Darell Leiking expressed his alarm today over the revised MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home) campaign set to take place this October.
He believed that the campaign will put Sabah at a great disadvantage in bringing more foreign investors into the State to resuscitate the economy and provide employment to the locals.
According to him, while foreign investors normally have to consider several factors such as incentives, labour, logistics and operational expenditure before deciding to invest in Malaysia, the well-being of their skilled, fellow citizens relocated or transferred here as expatriates, is equally important for them.
"If the State Government's priority for the post-Covid 19 era is to provide employment to thousands of our locals through investments by foreign investors and Multi-National Companies (MNC), then we will need these skilled expatriates especially in the mid and high-tech manufacturing sector for instance as well as the oleochemical and oil and gas industries.
"Even though our local graduates are academically qualified, they do not possess the experience acceptable to these investors especially in terms of operation. It is because of these skilled expatriates that the transfer of technological knowledge can happen when they come and show our local graduates how to do things," he said in a statement today.
During their stay here in Sabah, Darell said these expatriates will bring their families too and require houses so the revised MM2H conditions that require a monthly income of RM40,000 will make it difficult for the State Government to promote Sabah as the new investment haven.
"We are already at a great disadvantage as enablers with poor logistics, high tariffs for electricity and energy, having minerals that we don't own and an unstable water supply," he added.
Previously, the requirement for monthly income was RM10,000. The revised amount is an increment of 300 per cent.
He also disagreed with the Home Ministry's reasoning that the revision is necessary to reduce the influx of foreigners working in the country as reported by the media.
"The MM2H itself tells us that it relates to expatriates and not the millions of illegal immigrants or unskilled Bangladeshi, Myanmar or Indonesian workers coming in throngs to Malaysia.
"I don't know if the presence of the skilled expatriates has caused competition for the local graduates in terms of job security in the health and education sectors but my opinion is they are not in the industry or manufacturing sectors," he asserted.
The Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA) requires companies, both foreign and domestic investors, to comply with the specific condition that 80 per cent of the employees hired by the company must be of local origin and possess documentary evidence of this and details of all employees be furnished to MIDA.
"This tells us that there already exists regulation to restrict the influx of expatriates to the country, albeit in certain industries and there has been no previous media report that these expatriates are robbing jobs from the locals that now necessitates the Home Ministry to come out with such a drastic review.
"Unless, I have missed such a report," he stated.
The former Minister of International Trade and Industry said that the GRS-led State Government must show its assertiveness over the MM2H review which he reckoned will potentially cause Sabah great economic loss in the long run.
"As one of the top tourism destinations in the country, Sabah is poised to become the perfect tropical paradise for foreigners especially those from colder climates. It is a place for them to enjoy their golden retirement years.
"We must realise their importance since they are our unofficial tourism ambassadors who will tell great things about Sabah to their friends and families abroad and this will boost the State's tourism industry.
"The same would be for future investors who can bring in industries and new technology investments into Sabah especially when we have a conducive and safe business environment and this therefore can future-proof our industries and startups. Hence, we need to offer a very good package to these foreigners to entice them to come and stay here, which was the original intention of MM2H.
"But it seems to me that this campaign had instead become a push factor - other developed States in Peninsula that are not dependent on tourism such as Selangor, Johor and Kuala Lumpur may afford to lose these foreigners but not Sabah," he stated.
The largest losers from this reviewed campaign would be the local developers who have already been facing tough times during the pandemic and therefore there is a need to continue building and selling mid and high rise properties for a meagre profit while at the same time, continue providing employment to those either directly or indirectly related to the construction sector.
"While affordable housing for the local Sabahans is of importance, we cannot deny the contribution of the mid and high-end properties that boosted the development of some areas in Sabah which we experienced in the early and mid-2000s when the palm oil rush in the East Coast caused many mixed-type developments to sprout in the West Coast with the likes of Bukit Sepanggar, Bandar Sierra and many more.
"So obviously, if more foreign investments come into the State, more industries and manufacturing plants will sprout and the owners and executives of these plants will want to have their own houses nearer to Kota Kinabalu. Potential areas that the State Government can identify for mixed development that also provide housing would be Tuaran and Papar.
"Hence, it is imperative that the GRS-led State Government sit down with all the stakeholders affected by the review such as the Sabah Housing and Real Estates Development Association (Shareda) and Sabah Law Society (SLS) to get their input over the matter and if necessary, express the State Government's official disapproval of the decision adopted by the Federal Government.
"I also believe that while the promotion of MM2H is normally done by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the issuance of the MM2H visa itself is under the full discretion of the Home Ministry through the Immigration Department. So there must be a definite stand by the GRS-led State Government whether to speak up without fear in the interests of our Sabahan stakeholders or whimper in silence because of political backlash.
Sabah should decide its programme on its own when bringing in foreign investors and foreigners who seek a better life in Sabah by making Sabah's very own entry package which could be named 'SabahMy2ndHome' and not to be dictated by the Federal Government who may not be bothered much with Sabah as history has shown us to date," he said.
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