Malaysia hopes that Indonesia will not cease sending maids to the country because the recent case of an Indonesian maid who died after being allegedly abused by her employers is an isolated one.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said such drastic action by the neighbouring country would only be detrimental to both countries.

As such, Ahmad Zahid who is also the Home Minister said he would meet Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhammad Hanif Dhakiri in the near future to negotiate on the matter and find the best possible solution to the issue.

"We (Malaysia) express deep regret if the media report about Indonesia intending to stop sending its domestic workers to the country due to the isolated maid abuse case is true.

"In fact, we know that we have certain SOPs (standard operating procedures) that must be adhered to by employers and the Malaysian government will never protect any employer who are found to have acted cruelly (against their maids)," he said after a walkabout at Dataran Bagan Datuk in Perak today.

Indonesia's news portal Sindo News reported that Jakarta was considering ceasing its nationals being sent to undertake jobs as domestic workers in Malaysia following the recent death of Indonesian Adelina Lisao, 26, who was allegedly abused at her employer's house in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

Ahmad Zahid who is also Bagan Datuk member of Parliament said on the basis of humanity, Malaysia, would, in no way, protect or conceal any of the case.

"The prosecution will be made and the trial will take place in Malaysia. Indonesia should have confidence that this country is different from other countries where such cases occur (maid abuse case)," he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said that Malaysia had the lowest percentage of maid abuse case as compared to other countries.

"...it means that we are concerned about the welfare of maids from Indonesia," he said.

He also assured that his ministry together with the Human Resource Ministry would continue to monitor if there were complaints about maid abuse in the country.

"We will look back at the agreement between the employer and the employee, if there are flaws in the regulations, we will do a review including on the SOPs," he added.

Adelina died while being treated at the Bukit Mertajam Hospital on Feb 11. She had severe injuries on her head and face, and her hands and legs were also injured.

- Bernama