Following the challenge, Astro AWANI has conducted a survey via its website and @501Awani Twitter account to get opinions from fellow netizens through this question:
“Anak muda Malaysia tak suka kerja kotor, sukar, dan bahaya. Apa kata anda?” (Malaysian youths are not interested in dirty, dangerous, and difficult jobs. What say you?)
By noon on Monday, over 3,000 votes were collected on the news site and some 4,500 more from Twitter.
The results were almost 50/50 for each, where 49.94 per cent agreed while 50.06 per cent disagreed.
TheTwitter poll results also reflected similar outcome with 52 per cent of netizens agreeing with the statement while another 48 per cent objected it.
A matter of attitude
Most netizens concur with Zahid’s statement, saying that local youths are not keen in ‘3D’ sectors despite ample vacancies being offered.
Several Facebook users who happen to be employers say that foreign workers perform better than their Malaysian counterparts, making them a more competitive choice.
We rather do ‘3D’ jobs abroad
Those who disagree with Zahid revealed that local youths prefer to work in ‘3D’ sectors in Singapore or Australia which they claim would offer better pay.
They also highlighted the 'low pay' offered by local employers in ‘3D’ sectors due to the employment market value being filled up by foreign workers and theirwillingness to accept low wages.
The employers who provide low pay are seen by netizens as 'taking a shortcut' to make money while many Malaysians are still unemployed.
Though still accepting the importance of bringing in foreign workers, some netizens question the entry of 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers which for them is too high, and may affect job opportunity for locals.
READ: Stop the 1.5 million foreign workers, focus on re-training locals - MTUC
READ: Sabah to stop intake of workers from Bangladesh
READ: No specific figure for Bangladeshi workers entering Malaysia