PUTRAJAYA, Oct. 9 -- The Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia (PAPA) has proposed creating a new category of "residential cleaners" for households that prefer part-time help instead of live-in maids.

PAPA said many Malaysians now prefer privacy and only need cleaning assistance occasionally, not full-time domestic help.

"Many households prefer privacy and do not prefer live-in domestic helpers. They would prefer residential cleaners who come in periodically to clean the houses," PAPA president Datuk Foo Yong Hooi said in a media statement today.

He said such services were already in high demand but currently carried out by foreigners working illegally.

"Many foreigners are already doing this illegally. PAPA proposed this sector...