Rep wants minimum wage raised to RM1,500 in stages over five years

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Irene Chang

SIBU: Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang has urged the government to consider raising the minimum wage of all employees from RM920 to RM1,500 in stages over five years.

She said the increment should take into consideration the employee’s academic qualification and whether he is doing a blue-collar or white-collar job.

“The aim is to make the minimum wage uniform nationally and to raise the standard of living by raising the purchasing power of the people, stimulating higher private consumption which will eventually boost business activities domestically. This should not be done in haste but should be done gradually over five years once the PH government has revived and stabilised the economy of Malaysia, including Sarawak,” she said.

She said the recent statement by Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran that the new minimum wage of RM1,500 is part of the government’s five-year plan came as a relief to employers in many small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sarawak.

Chang said raising the minimum wage in Sarawak and making it uniform with Peninsular Malaysia is a necessary thing to do “if we want to raise the standard of living in Sarawak but it is imperative that this should be done at the right timing and in stages”.

She said since PH took over the federal government, she had received a number of phone calls from SMEs in Sarawak, expressing worry and concern that they might not have the ability to give such a big increment for all their employees.

“Given that the PH government has inherited a government which is financially broke, the time is definitely not ripe to impose such a huge increment at this time when the economy of the country is unstable and many businesses in Sarawak are struggling to keep afloat,” Chang reiterated.

“Imposing the increment now might compel many employers to downsize their businesses and to let some of their employees into the unemployment market. This is already happening even without the increment,” she noted.

She added: “Since SMEs form more than 95 per cent of business establishments in Malaysia, and are the backbone of our economy, the huge increment would cause an overall adverse and unfavourable impact on the economy of Malaysia.”