Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has recently announced that the minimum wage in the country will be increased to RM1,500. However, some of the people are still debating if this revised minimum wage will be enough for them to cope with the increasing cost of living.
Melaka Youth, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Development Exco, VP Shanmugam is one of them who thinks people who earn RM1,500 will hardly be able to make it.
In fact, he thinks that the minimum wage should be reviewed and increased to RM2,000.
Shanmugam said that the low minimum wage had affected youths the most as they are going through the early phase of their careers.
“Some of us still think that a minimum wage of RM1,500 is still low, which explains why young people refuse to work in the factories or the hotel industries,” he said.
Speaking to Malaysia Gazette, Shanmugam said that if a young married couple earns RM4,000 in total, this would allow them to cover their house and car loan, as well as other daily necessities.
Explaining further, Shanmugam said the low wages is the reason why most people opt to do business at the roadside instead of working in the factory.
“Some of the people prefer to sell bananas fritters by the road that can give a net return of RM100 a day, which is equivalent to RM3,000 a month.” he said.
He added that businesses are then forced to employ foreign workers, which eventually resulted in the devaluation of our currency through the remittances by foreign workers.
Previously, Ismail said that the government takes into account the current rising cost of living, which put the B40 group under pressure particularly.
Meanwhile, some are worried that the sudden increase in minimum salary will given businesses a good reason to hike prices of goods.
What do you think about this? Share your thoughts!
 Development Exco, VP Shanmugam is one of them who thinks people who earn RM1,500 will hardly be able to make it.){kind=link}