'Bruneianisation' needs policy, enforcement

THE positive promotion of employing more Brunei citizens and permanent residents, a move commonly referred to as "Bruneianisation", will not work without the introduction and enforcement of policies in favour of local employees, a senior manager in Brunei's hotel industry said yesterday.

During the question and answer session of a lecture on helping SMEs (small to medium-sized enterprises) retain local staff, Lt Col (Rtd) Pg Md Noor Pg Muhidi, the events and projects manager at the Holiday Lodge Hotel in Jerudong, said Bruneianisation was "failing" given the continued higher percentage of foreign nationals working in the Sultanate's private sector.

The talk, presented by Centre for Strategic and Policy (CSPS) Executive Director Dato Paduka Hj Ismail Hj Duraman in conjunction with the Career Carnival 2010, pointed out that statistics from the Prime Minister's Office showed that in 222 companies surveyed, 48.44 per cent of the staff were "locals", while the bulk were foreign nationals.

"Companies need to be given a quota on how many locals they should employ," said Pg Md Noor.

"This will ensure that locals will always be given priority.

"But with whatever policy or quota introduced, the enforcement must be there, too," he added.

Pg Md Noor also noted that it was difficult to retain local employees. Aside from the general unwillingness of locals to work in the private sector, he said that some employers would not hire locals because of their lack of diligence or effort in performing work.

He suggested that a minimum wage be introduced as a means of resolving the issue. The minimum wage could be implemented based on the experiences of other countries, but fine-tuned to cater to Brunei's needs, he added.

Dato Paduka Hj Ismail agreed with Pg Md Noor's views, particularly regarding employers' preference for cheaper, more dependable foreign labour over "local" workers.

As for introducing a policy requiring companies to employ more locals, the executive director acknowledged that some companies had already implemented their own forms of "Bruneianisation".

The executive director suggested that the government introduce some type of "top-up" plan, whereby the government can introduce a minimum wage and add to private sector employees' salaries to make the sector more attractive to locals.

Dato Paduka Hj Ismail attributed the relatively higher pay of the public sector to the "boom" of Brunei's oil industry and the ensuing rapid development of government projects. He remarked that it was now too difficult for the private sector to compete and attract employees, and thus develop itself.

Therefore, he said, the "top-up" plan would help the private sector to catch up with the public sector and stabilise.

"In other countries, it is the SMEs that are driving the national economy. But here the private sector is second to the government," the CSPS executive director said. "SMEs are the second engines of growth." The Brunei Times