Labor Ministry official’s link to agency sparks controversy

Amid mounting concerns over labor recruitment agencies' treatment of migrant workers, new links were discovered yesterday between agencies and the officials that regulate them, as a daughter of a senior Labor Ministry official was found to be running a major recruitment firm. Nhem Chakrya, deputy director at Mey Yorn Services Co Ltd, a large recruitment agency of maids for Malaysia, said Nhem Kimhuoy, chief of the placement bureau at the Labor Ministry's department of employment and manpower, is her father. Ms Chakrya stressed, however, that there was no conflict of interest in the fact that he was working in a government body that regulates companies like hers...