Hope for New Life for Malaysian Migrant Workers: A Christian Organization Willing to Help

Migration and the Associated Issues: What Needs to Be Remembered

The problem of migrant workers has been causing quite a concern for the past few decades. Because of the lack of job opportunities in the home country, people go abroad, often illegally, in order to get better job propositions and earn money (Holgate, 2011). As a rule, such employees have comparatively low qualifications yet are less demanding in terms of wages and working standards. As a result, a massive influx of migrant workers may cause a sharp increase in unemployment rates within a state (Bryant & Robinson, 2013, 13 August), as the case of Malaysia has shown in a very graphic way (Pye, Daud, Harmono & Tatat, 2012).

Malaysian Migrant Workers: Analysis of the Problem

Over the past few years, the situation regarding the Malaysian migrant workers has become even more drastic, recent researches say. While people continue to frequent Malaysia in order to earn money for their families (Naidu, 2013), the conditions in which these people work, as well as the ridiculously small amounts of money, which they are paid for their hard work, have led to quite drastic results and a sharp increase in death rates among Malaysian migrant staff (Urbano, 2012). However, not only do Malaysian migrant workers tolerate such a situation but also create quite high competition rates in the industry, therefore, making the situation even more deplorable (Klanarong, Singhanetra-Renard & Tohmeena, 2011).

It is obvious that these people are intimidated by the threats of their employees to fire them; although employers clearly break every single labor law, the Malaysian migrants are too afraid of losing their job to make a decisive step (Rodriguez, 2011). To change the situation, they need to build a strong community in Malaysia, therefore, being able to protect their rights and freedoms. With the help of a powerful and influential organization, which will give the Malaysian workers hope by offering them faith, the given goal can be achieved.

Proposed Solutions and Their Inefficacy: Learning on Others’ Mistakes

On the one hand, the idea that something as ephemeral as faith can possibly serve as the glue that will keep a group of people with completely different interests, visions, goals and aspirations together might seem rather far-fetched. However, when taking a closer look at some of the examples of Christian organizations contributing to the evolution of a society and its members, as well as on the effects that faith has on people’s performance, their social involvement, their willingness to fight for their rights, and other attributes of a socially active member of a community. Moreover, it is crucial that a Christian organization like Hope for New Life will be able to provide migrant workers with jobs that will help them survive in the competitive business environment, which Malaysian entrepreneurship seems to have turned into.

The use of the so-called faith-based organizations is not new (Olarinmoye, 2012). In fact, the given approach has been used recently by Obama’s administration (Lee, 2012).

It is important to keep in mind, though, that social research is not an equation (Social research methods, n. d.), solving which will ultimately lead to the only possible answer; quite on the contrary, in the process of the problem analysis, a number of other factors, both external and internal, are bound to be detected (Doctoral candidacy resource guide (DCRG), n. d.), therefore, affecting the outcomes impressively.

More to the point, social research presupposes that a particular solution should be designed for a unique issue (NCU template applied degree CP, 2013); hence, what suits perfectly for one community, as specific research may indicate, will not necessarily work for the Hope for New Life. The aforementioned issues complicate the research greatly; as Trochim explained, “Even for a single hypothesis, there are a number of analyses a researcher might typically conduct” (Trochim & Donnelly, 2006, p. 14).

That being said, it would be wrong to disregard the experience of other Christian organizations. For example, some case studies indicate that faith in general and the power of Christian spirituality, in particular, has helped people greatly by motivating them for delivering better performance at work, paying more attention to their family life, etc. In addition, within a community, it will be easier for Malaysian migrant workers to follow a particular example and acquire the spiritual and moral qualities, which will help them stay afloat in the dire situation that they have trapped themselves in.

Christian Organizations and What They Can Do: Case Studies and Evidence

Seeing how the Malaysian workers need to create a strong community in order to be able to fend for themselves when applying for a job, as well as acquire new professional skills and evolve both as specialists and as individuals since church and religion have a huge impact on believers (Topali, 2013). In addition, with the support of a strong and well-functioning community, Malaysian workers will no longer be afraid of losing a job because of unwillingness to comply with the despicable conditions imposed on them by their employees.

Once Malaysian migrant workers are represented by a community, Malaysian companies will not dare rob the migrant workers of their legal salaries and their constitutional freedoms and rights (Purvis, 2011). As the previous cases of Christian organizations handling similar issues show, the idea of offering people faith as the tool for cementing their community and making their mini-society even stronger is a perfect idea that has a huge potential (Ferrier, 2012).

Some of the sources, however, point at the obvious limitations or the given research as it has been stressed above, the variety of outcomes for the given study is rather big. Therefore, to achieve success, Hope for New Life will not be allowed to deviate from the plan that will have been designed for the organization by the end of the research. With a number of external independent in the way (Creswell, 2014), following every single step of the plan that will be outlined is going to be rather difficult. That being said, the research still has a huge potential.

A community for Migrant Workers: Significance and Effects

As the studies conducted previously show migrant workers living within a community are not only better protected from the illegal actions of their employers and inhumane treatment, as well as poor working conditions, but also deliver better results and, therefore, are able to earn more. In addition, in a community, further education and professional training becomes possible (Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, n. d.), which means that migrant workers will be able to take even more responsible positions and carry out the tasks that are much more important for a company; hence, living in a community, migrant workers are able to become competent and well-paid workers.

Reference List

Bryant, C. & Robinson, D. (2013). Labour tackles retailers over the effect of migrants on British workers: Unemployment Shadow minister fluffs his lines but pinpoints worrying trends in the jobs market. Financial Times, p. 3.

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Creswell, J. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (4th Ed.). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Print.

Doctoral candidacy resource guide (DCRG) (n. d.). Web.

Ferrier, M. (2012). Life on the farm: migrant workers in Canada ‘sign away rights’ in hope of job security. Presbyterian Record, 136(4), 34.

Holgate, J. (2011). Temporary migrant workers and labor organization. Working USA, 14(2), 191–199.

Klanarong, N., Singhanetra-Renard, A. & Tohmeena, P. (2011). The mental health of Thai female migrants working in food shops on Langkawi Island, Malaysia. China – USA Business Review, 10(2), 150–160.

Lee, M. (2012). Bush, Obama and a faith‐based US foreign policy. International Affairs, 29(1), 1–14.

Naidu, M. (2013). Migrant mothers: Raising children in migrant space. The Oriental Anthropologist, 13(1), 35.

NCU template applied degree CP (2013). Web.

Olarinmoye, O. O. (2012). Faith-based organizations and development: Prospects and constraints. International Affairs, 88(5), 953–974.

Purvis, C. (2011). Vancouver group calls for rights for migrant workers. Presbyterian Record, 135(3), 11.

Pye, O., Daud, D., Harmono, Y. & Tatat, T. (2012). Precarious lives: Transnational biographies of migrant oil palm workers. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 53(3), 330–342.

Rodriguez, R. M. (2011). Philippine migrant workers’ transnationalism in the Middle East. International Labor and Working-Class History, 79(79), 48–61.

Social research methods (n. d.). Web.

Topali, P. (2013). Silent bodies in religion and work: Migrant Filipinas and the construction of relational power. Religions, 4(4), 621–643.

Trochim, W. M. K. & Donnelly, J. P. (2006). The research methods knowledge base. Mason, OH: Thompson Custom Learning.

Urbano, R. (2012). Global Justice and the plight of Filipino domestic migrant workers. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 47(6), 605–619.

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