It is not rare in Malaysia to see policy changes without any cohesive master plan for a specific time frame But by any standard, our immigration policy is in total and utter tatters.

Now we learn of the utterly illogical and unworkable plan in relation to Indian-Muslim restaurants.

Anyone patronising these restaurants would know that introducing the self-service concept will not work. In fact, as it is, a certain amount of self-service is already practiced at many of these restaurants, especially when one is choosing 'nasi campur'.

Can you imagine lining up to take your 'thosai' or 'roti canai' or even the 'Milo tarik'?

I honestly don't understand what is the big issue that the Home ministry has with imported Indian workers. These Indian workers are the perfect example of how foreign workers should be.

They stay out of trouble, don't cause crime waves, don't run off with the local lasses and generally have no interest in staying on in Malaysia. Most of them are here purely to save enough money so that they can go back to India and have a decent life. Surely this category of workers should be promoted and not hounded.

I suspect it is a sinister and political move to avoid having too many Indians in Malaysia. I will stand corrected if the Home Ministry can publish details of the rampant social problems caused by these Indian restaurant workers.

Or is it a case of the restaurant operators not willing to pay enough 'kopi' money? After all, it is widely alleged that this 'under the table' money is required to bring foreign labour in so this may be the real reason behind the clampdown.

I believe that it is an issue beyond the normal capability and comprehension of our Immigration Department. The lack of strategic and future planning over the years has reduced our immigration management to hit-and-run tactics.

It is time this policy is defined in a comprehensive way. I think it is best to set up a special commission comprising industry players to study the problems.

I don't have any confidence in our Immigration Department's ability to plan. For example they could not even determine the location of their offices properly.

On the Bicara Menteri programme over RTM 1 on Nov 3, the Home Minister was asked by a viewer why the Foreign Workers Section of the department had been moved from Pusat Bandar Damansara to Putrajaya pointing out that this was highly inconvenient to users.

He replied by stating that he was pleased to inform everyone that the decision has been made to move it back to Pusat Bandar Damansara!

While we all welcome the move, one cannot comprehend why this was not thought out properly in the first place?

Now that the department is moving back, who will be paying for this? The old offices would have been cleaned up when they moved. Further renovations may be necessary.

Don't they think about these things before making a decision? Should they be trusted to deal with the issue of immigration which is crucial for our nation's well being?