Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia, has approved an amended bill related to the use of child and young labourers, according to The Star.

Human Resources Minister M.Kulasegaran at the launch of Malaysia’s World day against child labour 2018 in Putrajaya. (Source: thestar.com.my)

Accordingly, a ten-fold increase in fines will be applied for those employing youths below 15 years old or getting them to do hazardous work.

The minimum fines will increase from 5,000 RM to 50,000 RM while the maximum penalty is now 100,000 RM, up from 10,000 RM.

Violators may now also spend up to five years behind bars, instead of 1-2 years as before.

“The amendments will increase protection to children and young people in employment, particularly from discrimination and exploitation by irresponsible parties,” said Malaysian Minister of Human Resources M. Kulasegaran.

The bill also defines that hazardous work means the handling of machi¬¬nery and working environment as well as exposes children to hazardous chemicals, dusty conditions, extreme temperature, noise and vibration, he said.

Earlier, when submitting the bill, Kulasegaran said statistics showed that there are now 440,500 workers aged between 15 and 19 in Malaysia.

(Source: VNA)