Hostel management for foreign workers: problems in non-purpose built building

Abstract

Malaysian government has implemented various incentives to encourage the MNCs to set up their plant and operations in Malaysia. The expansion programmes of these MNCs in Malaysia have resulted in a heavy inflow of foreign workers from third world and developing countries. As a result of that, it has created a great opportunity for hostel management organisations to serve the market. Based on observation, managing the lodging and accommodation for foreign workers appeared to be the most troublesome to the hostel management organisations. This is because the foreign workers employed were from different culture and background which requires special knowledge and skills in hostel management. Besides that most of the hostel management organisations do not own a hostel building for hostel business operations. This has created an additional problem to the hostel management organisations. As a result, it generates enough interest for it to be investigated further. For this purpose, two objectives have been formulated for this study. The first objective is to identify the problems faced by the hostel management organisations when they do not own a purpose-built building for hostel operation. The second objective is to identify the problems faced by the Management Corporation in managing the building facilities when a large portion of the multi-storey building is used as hostel. Research population for this study are segmented into three different groups, namely hostel management organisation, hostel occupants and Management Corporation. Data collected for this study were analysed using Frequency Analysis and Likert Scaling. Findings of this study conclude that hostel management organisations do have problems when operating in a non-purpose built building for hostels. Similarly, Management Corporation also faces several problems when portions of units in their complex are being used as hostels. This study also highlights the advantages and disadvantages of using apartment as hostel for foreign workers which appeared to be a good reference for other apartments in Johor Bahru