Foreigners At The Gate

Foreigners in Malaysia are resorting to crowdfunding among themselves to open more businesses in the country. Crowdfunding is a practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people.

Malaysian Indian Commerce Association (Mica) Advisor P. Sivakumar said this was prevalent mainly among the Bangladesh and Pakistan nationals and it was a worrying trend as it would deprive the locals of business opportunities.

“This shows that the foreigners have the means to bypass the local banking system to pool their resources,” he said, adding that many of them had opened furniture shops, eateries, workshops, sundry shops and they also had warehouses.

“This problem is not just in Johor but everywhere. What happened to the enforcement on such activities?

“Presently, our local burger seller is still doing his business by the roadside while the foreigners using locals as fronts to apply for licences are moving on to bigger businesses,” said Sivakumar, who is also the Johor Indian Business Association (Jiba) chairman.