09/06/2026

TUESDAY | JUNE 9, 2026

3 Ex-intern highlights urgent need for clarity, safeguards

M’sia vows to aid Philippines after earthquake PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has pledged support to the Philippines after a powerful offshore earthquake struck near Mindanao early yesterday, triggering tsunami warnings and precautionary evacuations, while authorities said there was no tsunami threat to Malaysia despite tremors being felt in parts of Sabah. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia stands ready to assist its neighbour following the earthquake, which measured between magnitude 7.8 and 7.9 and struck at a depth of about 50km off southern Philippines. He added that the government is closely monitoring the situation after tremors were reported in several areas of Sabah. The earthquake prompted tsunami warnings in parts of southern Philippines, with media reports saying Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr has directed emergency agencies to activate response and monitoring operations. The Foreign Ministry emphasised that the Malaysian Embassy in Manila is closely monitoring developments and coordinating with local authorities to safeguard Malaysians in the affected areas. Wisma Putra advised Malaysians residing in or travelling to the affected regions to remain vigilant. “Move to higher ground immediately if located near the coast, and follow all evacuation orders and safety instructions issued by Philippine authorities.“ In Malaysia, authorities confirmed that the earthquake posed no tsunami threat to the country. Separately, the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry said tsunami warning sirens were activated briefly in several east coast districts of Sabah, including Tawau, Semporna, Kunak and Lahad Datu, as a precaution following initial alerts. Its minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup urged residents, particularly those living in coastal areas, to remain calm and avoid panic. The Meteorological Department issued a tsunami advisory at 8.36am but lifted it after further assessment. Authorities have advised residents in coastal areas to remain cautious, avoid beaches and comply with instructions from emergency services while monitoring efforts continue. Ű BY HARITH KAMAL newsdesk@thesundaily.com

Ű BY FAIZ RUZMAN newsdesk@thesundaily.com

o Clear written terms needed before placement begins but such documentation need not be formal legal contract: MEF

internships or work-based learning each year, pointing to MySIP as an existing good-practice model, with structured placements of at least 10 weeks and allowance benchmarks of between RM500 and RM600. She said companies that use interns to fill staffing gaps are misusing the system entirely. “Interns are not cheap machines to cover weaknesses in company manpower planning. “If an organisation lacks workers, hire workers. Do not hide manpower shortages behind the word ‘internship’,“ she stressed. She added that the difference between exploitation and education comes down to one thing: “Work challenges without clarity is stress. Work challenges with guidance is learning.” – by Faiz Ruzman need not be a formal legal contract. “The above need not be a complex legal contract. A simple. practical document would provide clarity while avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens. “Internships should remain primarily educational in nature and should not be used as a source of regular employment. “Where participation outside normal office hours is necessary for learning purposes, project requirements or special events, employers should communicate expectations clearly in advance. “Such activities should be reasonable, occasional and relevant to the objectives of the internship.” He said while the legal distinction between employees and interns is generally understood, there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the scope of protection and responsibilities applicable to interns, particularly when they are engaged in workplace activities similar to regular employees. “There is value in developing clearer national guidelines that set minimum expectations regarding placement terms, workplace safety, conduct, grievance mechanisms and insurance coverage.” He also said internships must not be used as a source of regular employment and any requirement to work outside normal hours should be reasonable, occasional and directly relevant to the internship’s learning objectives. MEF said it is open to a phased framework to improve clarity and safeguards for interns nationwide. The former intern has called on the government to introduce tiered allowance guidelines based on education level and to require companies to prepare structured training plans before placements begin. “At least us interns would have a clearer view of what is expected for us to learn and give back to the company, rather than having us figure them out by ourselves from the written job description.”

PETALING JAYA: A 26-year-old former language studies student worked a full nine-to-six day, managed a company’s social media accounts and delivered three months of marketing content, yet he was paid nothing. The ex-intern, who requested anonymity, said he took a remote social media marketing internship after being promised RM250 a month, only to complete the entire placement without receiving a single sen . “I never made any complaint as there were not enough sufficient channels to place my complaints.” His offer letter stated his hours. The allowance was listed. But when the placement began, the money never came and there was no one to tell. He said the company handed him a live social media account with no briefing, no training plan

conducting writing reports, attending meetings and performing duties no different from those of salaried staff. Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman acknowledged the grey areas but stopped short of calling for statutory protections, adding that mandatory contributions or additional compliance costs could deter employers from offering placements altogether. He said MEF supports clear written placement terms before an internship begins, covering duties, duration, supervisors, allowance if any and safety coverage, but stressed that such documentation research,

and no guidance. “They just passed the task schedule and handed me their social media account to handle. There was no clear direction on what I must do.” His case is not unique. It has surfaced amid a widening public debate over whether interns in Malaysia are being put to work without pay, protection or recourse—a debate that activist Rashifa Aljunied brought to national attention through a series of posts on Threads from May 22. In a follow-up video on Thursday, Rashifa rejected the argument that interns are “only there to learn”, pointing to trainees managing social media accounts,

Syed Hussain said there remains considerable uncertainty regarding the scope of protection and responsibilities applicable to interns, particularly when they are engaged in workplace activities similar to regular employees. – SYED AZAHAR SYED OSMAN/THESUN

Law must catch up to broken trainee system: Labour specialist PETALING JAYA: When an intern reports every day at office hours, takes instructions from management, performs operational tasks and produces work that benefits the company, at what point does “trainee” become a cover for unpaid labour? That is the question labour and HR practitioner Dr Nadzrah Yusof is putting to Malaysia’s employers, universities and policymakers as a national debate over intern exploitation intensifies. to work after hours, then we must ask: At what point does the intern stop being a trainee and start functioning like a worker?” said Nadzrah, better known online as “Makcik Labour”. “Internship should be a learning platform, not a shortcut to obtain cheap labour. “If a company benefits from an intern’s work but the intern does not receive the learning benefit they are supposed to get, that is not a quality internship. That is exploitation called training,“ she noted. On compulsory university placements, Nadzrah said institutions and employers are jointly responsible for what happens to students on the job, and neither can walk away. deploying them. For internships outside university requirements, she said the gap is even more serious as campus oversight may not exist at all. Anyone entering a workplace, following company instructions and creating value for an organisation is entitled to basic safeguards regardless of how their role is labelled, she noted. Nadzrah also called for a minimum national framework that defines interns in law, requires written placement terms, mandates supervisors, ensures accident

Her answer is blunt: The system is broken and the law has not caught up. The HR consultant and Head of Learning at Elite Career Centre Sdn Bhd said the Employment Act 1955 does not define the word “intern”, leaving trainees in a legal grey zone even when they report for office hours, receive company instructions, perform operational duties and produce work that directly benefits the organisation. She also said the core problem is one of “status ambiguity” as interns could be students, trainees, workers or what she described as “temporary manpower labelled as students”.

She said Malaysia needs to stop looking at the label and start looking at reality. “If an intern comes in every day according to office hours, receives instructions from the employer, performs operational tasks, replaces the function of permanent staff, chases company output and is asked

“I see this responsibility as a shared duty of care between universities and employers,“ she said, adding that universities must check on students regularly, provide confidential complaint channels and assess whether employers are actually guiding them rather than simply

insurance or social protection coverage, establishes safe complaint channels and sets reasonable limits on tasks assigned to trainees. She cited TalentCorp and MyNext figures showing that between 250,000 and 280,000 students require