COMMENT | It's not exactly all in a day’s work. When glove manufacturers are announcing their profits in the billions, it appears that the welfare of their workers who have helped generate the profits have been conveniently forgotten.

With news that the global supply of rubber gloves is projected to reach 420 billion pieces this year, and with 67 percent of that coming from Malaysia, manufacturers will be laughing all the way to the bank.

But why then the reluctance to comply with the laws? Yet again, glove manufacturers are seeking a reprieve from the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 or Act 446.

Despite coming into force some nine months ago, the pleading, beseeching, and haggling continues. Yesterday, the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma) asked for “more time and space in managing housing and living standards for workers”.

Its president, Supramaniam Shanmugam, said overseeing the Act “was a tedious and cumbersome process”...