GEORGE TOWN | The government will implement a new minimum wage rate of RM1,500 in the near future, not at the end of this year, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.
Saravanan (Tapah-BN) said the announcement would be made later, as the country’s economic situation is currently improving, and most businesses are seen to be growing and showing a trend of recovery.
“The government is actually ready to announce, but we are still looking into some things, because we do not want other employers to take the opportunity to try and reduce employees,” he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in response to a question from M. Kula Segaran (Ipoh Barat-PH), who wanted to know whether the government plans to implement a minimum wage of RM1,500 by year’s end.
In his supplementary question, the DAP lawmaker then stated that new minimum wage rates should be implemented every two years.
He proposed that Malaysia should follow the example set by countries like the United Kingdom and Canada, which continue to implement the minimum wage increase even during a pandemic.
Saravanan said the government is aware of the fact that the minimum wage increase needed to be reviewed every two years, but noted that the matter still needs to be studied rationally, given the job demand situation in the gig economy sector at the moment.
“The prime minister has held meetings for three weeks in a row to study this matter in various aspects.
“The current situation is very different. The demand for economic gigs is higher, because as employees, they have the right to choose the sector that pays them more,” he said.
Chaos ensued when Datuk Seri Azeez Abdul Rahim (Baling-BN) submitted additional questions and said Kula Segaran could have resolved the issue of the minimum wage when he was human resources minister if he had the political will to do so.
“When he became a minister, he should’ve finished (tackling the issue). This all cakap tak serupa bikin (you don’t walk the talk).”
Saravanan’s reply, which also mocked the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto while governing Putrajaya, provoked his opposition counterpart by saying that their 2018 manifesto promised better minimum wage, but it ended up with only a RM100 increase.
This triggered a response from Kula Segaran, who claimed that Saravanan was trying to mislead the House.
“Look back at our manifesto. We promise a minimum salary increase of RM100 a year. We didn’t change anything. If the minister misleads the House, I should correct it,” said the opposition MP.
Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun intervened and cooled down the situation before it escalated further, saying: “Let’s calm down. Today is (only) Monday.”
In his final reply on the matter, Saravanan then promised that the government would announce a minimum wage increase in due time.
Last February, Saravanan was reported to have said that workers in the country were expected to enjoy the new minimum wage rate at around RM1,500 a month before the end of this year.
The last time the minimum wage was raised was on February 1, 2020, with an increase of RM100 from RM1,100 to RM1,200 per month, during the presentation of the 2020 Budget.
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