Recent studies have shown that Malaysian employers are among the most stingy in Southeast Asia. This is not surprising at all, as the loudest voice that protested the implementation of the RM1500 minimum wage are the employers.
In comparison to regional neighbors, Malaysian businesses appear to contribute only 25 percent of the country’s GDP as wages to workers, compared to Singapore’s 40 percent, Indonesia’s 84 percent, and the Philippines’ 76 percent.
These figures take into account the population sizes of the aforementioned countries, with Malaysia having 33 million people, Singapore having 5.6 million, Indonesia has 273 million, and the Philippines having 109 million.
This matter has caught the attention of the President of Malaysia’s Trades Union Congress (MTUC), Abdul Halim Mansur. Commenting on the issue, he stated that Malaysia’s figures made no sense, given that most employers in the country were more than willing to pay wages above the statutory minimum of RM1,200 (US$287).
Abdul Halim reminded us that despite the financial downturn caused by the pandemic, the Malaysian government had done much to assist by providing financial assistance in the form of stimulus packages, grants, and wage subsidies.
He also mentioned recent discussions about raising the minimum wage to RM1,500 (US$358) and expressed regret that many people were still hesitant to accept such a mandate. According to him, the employers keep saying that because of the economic difficulties and COVID-19, now is not the time to raise the minimum wage to RM1,500. This excuse has now become the norm, even though the government has launched a slew of assistance programs worth billions of ringgit.
Malaysia’s human resources minister, M Saravanan, recently announced that an RM1,500 minimum wage increase could be expected by the end of 2022, with a final amount to be confirmed pending cabinet approval. The last time Malaysia raised the minimum wage was in February 2020, when the rate was raised from RM1,100 to RM1,200 (US$287).
“Employers should want their employees to have more spending power, not put them in more debt,” he said. “When wages are low, people have more debts to pay, and they have to work even longer hours as a result. In comparison, Malaysian employers spend only about 25% of GDP on employee pay, making Malaysia the most stingy country in Southeast Asia in this regard,” said Abdul Halim.
Asyiqin Razak is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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