KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 26 — The government is mulling an “anti-Ali Baba” law to curb rent-seeking practices among foreigners, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
He said that the law would regulate property owners found to abuse their business licences, leading to an influx of foreign-owned businesses in the city centre.
“The Anti-Ali Baba legislation will allow action to be taken against Malaysians who give ‘Ali Baba licences’ to foreign workers without meeting the conditions,” he said on social media platform X yesterday.
He was responding to a member of the public who asked about laws to control the massive influx of foreigners purportedly benefiting from the government’s subsidies.
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Rafizi said that the influx of foreigners started because of the country’s dependence on foreign labour.
“Employers say that it is because our people do not want to work in certain industries. Partly it is about salary, but nowadays, with the minimum wage, the salary is more competitive than before,” he said, adding that this had snowballed over decades.
“With the abundance of foreign workers, locals opt to rent and give licences — in an Ali Baba way — for them to do business,” he said.
He said that the proposed “Anti-Ali Baba” law would work with other ongoing labour market reforms and finalisation processes for the upcoming Malaysia Plan.
“Among the measures taken in reforming the labour market are progressive wages, Academy in Industry programmes, and finalising the phasing down of foreign workers through multi-tiered levies.
“The Economy Ministry, which drafted the MP, will finalise its goal of gradually reducing foreign workers by 2030 in the 13th Malaysia Plan.
“All of this needs to be balanced so that there is no drastic impact on industries that rely heavily on foreign workers. As I have mentioned in my message to employers and the industry, it is coming because we cannot afford to continue like this,” said Rafizi.
Last Thursday, authorities launched a massive operation around Jalan Silang in the city, resulting in the detention of 1,101 foreigners from about 60 premises in and around Kota Raya Complex.
The police, primarily General Operations Force (GOF) personnel, and other agencies raided four blocks of shops and cordoned off the area as they rounded up offenders.
The operation was allegedly conducted to curb illegal activities and screen businesses owned by or employing foreigners to ensure their operations were legitimate.
