The Malaysian Insight

NOT far from a construction site, five containers sit under a highway and serve as ‘home’ to migrant workers.

A brace of ducks searching for food can be heard from the backyard.

Each container can house up to six people. 

The migrant workers have been unemployed for almost two months because of the movement-control order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.

There are 20 occupants in these container houses. All are from Bangladesh and have legal documents and permits. 

Some have been working in Malaysia for almost five years while some arrived in Malaysia seven months ago. 

During the MCO, they did not step out of the compound with their employer providing food and wages.

Part of their salary was wired home, leaving them short after the MCO was extended three times. Fortunately, some concerned people gave them food.

These workers used to earn RM55 a day, excluding overtime (OT), and about 10 of them have gone back to the construction since the government allowed specific business sectors to resume. – May 3, 2020.