Wan Junaidi (second left) and his wife joined by Fenny (left) and a Foreign Ministry officer in a group photo. – Photo from Ukas
KUCHING (March 20): Sarawakians constitute the highest number of victims of job scams in the country according to statistics, says Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarawak Regional Office director Fenny Nuli.
Describing the situation as worrying, she said Sarawak leaders including Deputy Premiers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian had expressed concern over the matter and expressed willingness of the Sarawak government to work together to stop such cases from happening.
According to the Sarawak Information Department, Fenny said the same matter was discussed during a courtesy call on Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar at the Astana today.
“I also shared my experience when I was involved in helping to rescue 16 victims from Sarawak who were among 43 Malaysians who were victims of job fraud last year in Lima, Peru when I was Malaysian Ambassador there.
“I also informed Tun Pehin Sri that my office will work with several agencies in Sarawak to hold a public awareness programme about this syndicate and that our office on the 14th Floor, Bangunan Sultan Iskandar is always open to assist those with inquiries over job offers abroad,” she said.
She further mentioned that 1,000 Malaysians were still stranded in Myanmar due to job scams.
During the meeting, she said Wan Junaidi also expressed his concern and informed her that he joined the Malaysian delegation to rescue Sarawakian job scam victims in Cambodia when he was a Cabinet minister.
“Working abroad is not as sweet as people expect… Sarawak has a lot of job potential and we need to take advantage of those opportunities and choose jobs according to academic qualifications. We also need to remind people not to be deceived by big salary offers to work abroad but instead investigate the background (of those providing the offer).
“This kind of logic needs to be planted in the minds of young people because these victims are around the ages of 19 and 20.
“We don’t want this issue to worsen,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak Information Department stated that the courtesy call amongst others was to inform the Head of State of the function and role of the Sarawak Regional Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has been operating since 2010 in Sarawak.
Fenny also said there are plans to hold awareness talks in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in May and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) regarding international diplomacy issues, besides sharing experiences in the mission of rescuing victims of job fraud syndicates.