Pre-employment medical examination of Indonesian domestic helpers in a private clinic in Johor Bahru--an eight year review.

Foreign workers are essential in building and sustaining our economy. They are mainly from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Nepal. They are needed to work in our construction industry, plantations, factories and as domestic helpers. Statistics from the Malaysian Immigration Department showed that there is a steady influx of Indonesian foreign workers to Peninsular Malaysia as shown in Figure 1'. About one-quarter of them, practically all females, work as domestic helpers (Table I)1.