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14 Kochi University Review No. 102that of small farmers. Their working conditions are worse than those of workers in otherindustries, and the average wage of harvesters is said to be lower than RM 700....

14 Kochi University Review No. 102that of small farmers. Their working conditions are worse than those of workers in otherindustries, and the average wage of harvesters is said to be lower than RM 700 permonth, and that of weeders is about RM 500, both of which are below the rural povertyline of RM72022. They also suffer from pesticide poisoning because of their lack ofprotection against pesticide dangers23. In recent years, due to a deep labor shortage incombination with avoidance of poor working conditions and drain of labor to industrialand urban worksites, foreign workers are massively imported at the bottom of the labormarket.Table 6 shows that the number of foreign plantation workers, as identified officially, isover 300,000, approximately 90% is Indonesian, and they become engaged in harvesting,spraying, and other field work under the poorest conditions. The number of the totallabor force in the oil palm plantation is about 580,000. It is estimated that foreign labormakes up over half of the total work force in Malaysian plantations, especially 80% inEast Malaysia24.Further, Malaysian agribusinesses have become transnational and operating areas aremore and more extensive. A set of contradictions such as deforestation, biodiversityloss, land dispute, plight of workers and small farmers also has become transnational.In fact, illegal logging, open burning and haze in Indonesia have been related to someMalaysian companies, and Indonesian plantation workers and smallholders are directlyand indirectly related to Malaysian capital by way of employment of wage labor or theNucleus Estate and Smallholder System (Perkebunan Inti Rakyat: PIR) agreement. Asthese contradictions thus intensify and extend across borders, palm oil is now exposedto a wave of international criticism against environmental destruction and human rightsTable 6 Foreign Plantation Workers in Malaysia(Number; ％ )Number of Persons Percentages of Total2000 2004 2007 2000 2004 2007Total 200,474 384,473 337,503 100.0 100.0 100.0Indonesia 186,236 352,339 290,484 92.9 91.6 86.1India 168 16,536 22,451 0.1 4.3 6.7Bangradesh 9,959 2,592 14,207 5.0 0.7 4.2Philippines 3,236 5,341 4,662 1.6 1.4 1.4Nepal 228 5,159 2,584 0.1 1.3 0.8Others 647 2,506 3,115 0.3 0.7 0.9Note: This data is made by the Immigration Department. This doesn’t include undocumented workers.Source: Prepared from Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Statistics on Commodities 2008.