KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul (pic) said a monthly salary of RM25,000 is insufficient for members of parliament.
He explained that a non-executive MP’s basic salary is about RM16,000, with the balance made up of allowances.
Ministers, he added, earn around RM15,000 more, bringing their total to about RM40,000.
Johari said the sum is quickly stretched to cover professional and community expenses.
As a former MP for 15 years, he noted that salaries had to fund office costs, researchers, staff, utilities, and aid for constituents.
“It sounds big but if you break it down, it’s very, very thin,” he told BFM recently.
Johari said MPs are also approached for financial help during personal crises such as medical bills.
He recalled that in his former constituency of Sungai Petani, with half a million residents, people regularly queued for assistance.
Turning them away, he said, was rarely an option as MPs are seen as the people’s representatives.
On the RM2 million annual constituency allocation, Johari clarified it does not go into MPs’ accounts but is spent on local projects and infrastructure.