ALOR SETAR – The government is willing to give restaurant owners a leeway to hire foreign cooks only for the purpose of preparing traditional dishes from their countries of origin, if necessary.
Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Mahfuz Omar said this was on the understanding that some of the dishes were not Malaysian traditional food and needed to be cooked by chefs from the country of origin of the dishes to preserve the authenticity and taste.
“For example, if you go to an Indian restaurant, they must have native Indian cuisine and original dishes from their country which only natives from there know how to cook,” he said after launching Merdeka@Komuniti Peringkat Daerah Kota Setar/Pokok Sena here today.
However, he said for this purpose, it was proposed that only head cooks be allowed to be hired from foreign countries, while the cook’s assistants must be from among the local people.
“The government always gives a little leeway, but we must encourage that the cook’s other assistants are locals so that they can learn from the foreign cook, but if preparing Malaysian cuisine why must we hire a foreign cook,” he said.
Mahfuz, however, insisted that for the time being all matters relating to the recruitment of foreign cooks remain a proposal, as long as it has not been finalised.
On Wednesday Mahfuz said the government had commissioned the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA) to study the issue, saying a final decision would only be known in October.
— BERNAMA
