They were responding to a comment by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that a decision on the freeze on foreign labour would be announced soon.

SME Association of Malaysia national president Michael Kang said lifting the ban was “urgent”, claiming that 12 per cent of his member companies have been forced to fold or downsize because of the freeze.

“Our association members are projected to lose 30% of revenue in the next 12 months if this goes on. They don’t have enough workers to keep up production and collect orders. We hope Zahid can announce this as soon as possible,” he said.

The Indian business community has also been badly hit by the freeze, said Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce president Tan Sri K. Kenneth Eswaran, adding that Indian-Muslim restaurants, barbershops and scrap metal dealers were running on skeleton crew now.

Though he applauded the government for listening to their grouses, Kenneth said stakeholders should have been engaged with in the first place before the freeze was implemented.

“We need the foreign workers because no locals want to work in these businesses. Frankly, they should have talked to the necessary organisations first because this has affected many business people,” he said.

Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) secretary-general Low Kian Chuan hoped for good news, which could mean businesses could finally get back into full gear after a two-month slump.

“We welcome this, we thought this was going to be indefinite so some companies had to take drastic measures by reducing operations and orders. Now if we can get workers, companies can get back to business as usual,” he said.

Malay Merchants and Entre-preneurs Association (Perdasama) vice-president Datuk Naim Mohamad said if workers were allowed in again, companies and employers must provide better lodging for them and impose tougher security on their movements to curb social ills and public fears.

“We need foreign labour, but it has become a matter of sentiment because there are social problems and crime attached to it. If the industry is willing to guarantee and take care of these problems, then everyone wins,” he said.

Naim suggested that employers track the movements of their workers via the GPS in their phones when they were off duty to prevent any crime or “moral issues” from happening.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong applauded Dr Ahmad Zahid, saying that his comment proved that the Government was listening to local businesses.

“He (Zahid) is listening to their problems. The associations, from time to time, have submitted memos to him and he has been responsive. I’m sure his announcement will be for the betterment of the workers,” he said.