The governance and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia involve a complex interplay of legal frameworks, bilateral agreements, and social policies. While both Indonesia and Malaysia have established policies to safeguard migrant workers' rights, the practical implementation often faces significant challenges. Indonesian migrant workers encounter issues such as legal status uncertainties, poor working conditions, and limited access to social services. This presentation examines the roles of both countries' policies, focusing on how bilateral cooperation and regional frameworks influence the protection mechanisms. It seeks to answer critical questions: What are the primary challenges faced by Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia? How effective are the current social policies in addressing these challenges? What improvements can be made to enhance the protection and well-being of these workers? By shedding light on these issues, the presentation aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the governance and protection mechanisms for Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, highlighting the importance of effective social policies and regional cooperation in ensuring their rights and welfare.

Andi Luhur Prianto, PhD is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. He also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal "Otoritas: Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan." His research focuses on urban politics, governance, and development issues. With extensive experience, Andi engages in in-depth research and projects aimed at providing solutions to key challenges in these fields. He is also actively involved in organizing workshops and writing scholarly papers to support the development of policies and best practices in his areas of expertise.

Aqmal Reza Amri is a lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar. He is actively managing the "Journal of Contemporary Governance and Public Policy (JCGPP)" and is a researcher at the "Pusat Penelitian Ilmu Sosial dan Humaniora Kontemporer (PPISHK)" in Indonesia. His research focuses on civil society studies, migration studies, and indigenous people. Aqmal has conducted various studies on the social policies affecting these areas, and he has been involved in several projects aimed at addressing the challenges faced by marginalized communities.

To tackle the severe old-age poverty, the Korean government introduced the Basic Pension (BP) in 2007 for the elderly with lower income. Since then, the non-contributory scheme has continued to develop and become one of the main public pension programs along with the earnings-related National Pension Scheme (NPS). The existing literature on the BP has been mainly conducted from the domestic perspective which involves political and socio-economic factors such as electoral competition and high old-age poverty rates. In contrast, this study pays special attention to international aspects (situated Learning) and domestic advocacy coalitions which translates in into the Korean context.

We take into consideration the three pension reforms in 1998, 2007, and 2014, which played a significant role in the development of the BP. Hence, this study aims to identify which attributes were critical to BP expansions. Through the three reforms, the existing BP has developed with a series of modifications and reinterpretations. In the Korean case, the initial reform model was considered with the reference of the World Bank’s conceptual framework. Later, the advocacy coalition for the BP continued to strategically reinterpret the international model in order to fit it in the Korean context. We also show that securing solid institutional positioning in the policy arena plays a crucial role in the introduction of a social policy such as the BP.

Won Sub Kim is Professor of Sociology at Korea University (South Korea). Born in South Korea, he studied sociology at Korea University and Bremen University and received his PhD from Bielefeld University. His scientific work centres on theory of the welfare state, old age income security systems and the East Asian Welfare State. Before coming to Korea University, he taught at Bielefeld University in Germany and at Kyung-Sang National University in South Korea. He has published a number of books and articles.