Tourism Malaysia Essay

“Malaysia, truly Asia” is a branding campaign launched by the Tourism Malaysia in 1999 to promote Malaysia as one of the exceptional tourist destinations in the world. Since then, Malaysia has brought more than 7.4 million tourists from all over the world (Munan 2002). Ironically, the slogan is not only capture the essence of the country’s unique diversity, but also illustrates the social dilemma of the immigrant labors faced by the country. Owing to its inclusive connotation, this slogan became the official nation-branding and as a collective discourse to portray the harmony, cultural and culinary diversity, nature, modernity, and service minded of the country, as tourists can enjoy the uniqueness in the blend of the cultures and diversity

They are forced to work in hazardous situation, often against their will, and toil for 12 hours a day or more. Many are subject to verbal, physical and sexual abuse. Most pay recruitment agents substantial sums of money to secure jobs, work permits and training. Once they arrive, they often find that much of what their agents told them about their new jobs is untrue — the pay, type of work, even the existence of those jobs or their legal status in the country. Many foreign workers are exploited by labor agents that take a large chunk of their salaries. Most workers have taken out loans at exorbitant interest rates and simply cannot afford to return to their home countries. Some are in situations close to bonded labor. Nearly all employers hold their workers' passports, placing workers at risk of arrest and in practice preventing them from leaving abusive workplaces. Coercive practices such as these are indicators of forced labor. Labor laws are not effectively enforced, and labor courts may take months or years to resolve cases. For domestic workers, who are not covered by most of the labor laws, recourse to the courts is usually not an option. (Hays