There is no reason why the government can spend US$ 900 million to buy 18 Sukhoi fighter jets but not approve a paltry RM 900 minimum monthly wage and RM 300 cost of living allowance (COLA)

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Press Statement (2)

by Lim Guan Eng

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(Petaling Jaya, Saturday): DAP declares full support and participation in the national picket by Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) on behalf of the 500,000 workers in the private sector seeking a minimum monthly return of RM 1,200/-. There is no reason why the government can spend US$ 900 million or RM 3.42 billion to buy 18 Sukhoi fighter jets but not approve a paltry RM 900 minimum monthly wage and RM 300 COLA for private sector workers.  

Such misplaced financial priorities and failure to look after the interests of workers has justified the decision by the MTUC to launch its second nationwide picket on August 8 to press its fair and just demands. The picket will oppose the proposed amendments to the Trade Unions Bill and the Industrial Relations Bill which MTUC claims will not benefit workers as it will allow employers the necessary means to sack workers. The proposed amendments were made without consultation with the trade unions is undemocratic, disrespectful of workers and a clear preference for the interests of employers over employees. 

The United Nations Human Development Report has consistently placed Malaysia has the country with the worst income inequality between the rich and poor in South East Asia. This is acknowledged by the 9MP that the income share of the bottom 40% of households decreased from 14% in 1999 to 13.5% in 2004 while that of the top  20% of households increased from 50.5% to 51.2%. Clearly this bottom 40% of households do not earn the average national household monthly income of RM 3,249.               

DAP considers it a failure of BN’s economic policy of equitable wealth distribution that such a significant number of Malaysians who do not enjoy their rightful share, are left out of the economic mainstream. The Singapore government’s annual budget gives out S$2,000 to poor families and there is no reason why the Malaysian government can not do the same.  

The question of affordability does not arise when Malaysia enjoys huge oil earnings with Petronas earning pre-tax profits of RM 76.3 billion last year. If Singapore can afford to share its wealth with its citizens despite not having a single drop of oil, why can’t oil exporter Malaysia with our oil resources do the same? The failure in sharing our oil resources require such imbalances and injustice to be redressed with the minimum wage and COLA.