Let me first state my support for hiking the minimum monthly wage for Malaysian workers.
I find regrettable Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives of Malaysia Steven Sim Chee Keong’s action of allowing his team to attack me, merely for disagreeing with the policies of compelling businesses to comply with the hike in minimum wage for foreign workers, forcing employers and foreign workers to make 2% EPF contributions, as well as the problems faced by SMEs in securing financing from Bank Rakyat and SME Bank.
These personal attacks by Steven Sim’s team are led by the newly appointed SME Corporation Malaysia Chairman Teng Chang Khim. Since Steven Sim appointed Teng as Chairman on 18 May 2026, Teng has made more facebook posts criticising me and party leaders than matters that benefits SMEs. Even Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia Lim Hui Ying was not spared from Teng’s dishonest and baseless criticism even though she did not make any public statements on the need to abolish the 2% EPF contributions by employers and foreign workers.
Teng’s latest attacks revolved around my consistent, persistent and repeated public statements urging the Federal government to exclude foreign workers from the latest hike in minimum monthly wage from RM 1,700 to RM 2,000 and abolish the compulsory 2% EPF contribution by employers and foreign workers. Teng’s support for hiking the minimum wage and requiring 2% EPF compulsory contribution for foreign workers is based on the principle of equality for all workers regardless of nationality due to Malaysia being a signatory of the conventions of the United Nations International Labour Organisation (ILO).
Teng’s equality argument is unprofessional and selectively applied when foreign domestic workers or maids are excluded from complying with the minimum wage. If foreign domestic workers can be excluded under the Minimum Wages Order, why not other foreign workers? And yet no sanction against Malaysia is forthcoming from the ILO for this breach of ILO conventions.
As the relevant Minister, Steven Sim should be aware that employers pay much more than the minimum monthly wage of RM 1,700 to foreign workers. Due to foreign worker levy, food, transportation and housing costs the actual monthly wage for foreign workers is not RM 1,700 but ranges between RM 2,700 to RM 3,100. Despite the higher cost, employers have no choice but to source for foreign workers due to the difficulty to source reliable local workers. Local employers have no qualms in paying higher for reliable local workers.
The New Minimum Wage Should Be Applied Only To New Foreign Workers And Not The Existing Foreign Workers.
The new minimum wage should be applied only to new foreign workers and not the existing foreign workers. Malaysian employers have factored in the cost of employing foreign workers at the fixed minimum monthly wage of RM 1,700 secured by mutual contractual agreement. The sudden RM 300 statutory hike in monthly minimum wage will only add an unnecessary financial burden that is not in the original employment contractual agreement with foreign workers.
The same argument applies for the compulsory 2% EPF contributions for foreign workers. Foreign workers refuse to pay the 2% EPF contribution because it is not in their original contractual agreement. Employers are therefore forced to bear the full 4% comprising not only their own 2% but also the foreign workers’ share of 2%.
Teng’s talk of equality for foreign workers on EPF contributions with local workers fails again when foreign workers and their employers pay 2% each as compared to 11% and 13% respectively for local workers and their employers. If 2% is not equal to 11% or 13%, why contribute to EPF all? Why then should there be the 2% EPF contribution for foreign workers when Singapore in 2003 ended mandatory and voluntary Central Provident Fund or CPF contributions for foreign employees. Again no sanction was taken against Singapore by the ILO.
Steven Sim has every right to to disagree with me on my position on the hike in minimum wage and 2% EPF contribution for foreign workers. However it is irresponsible for Steven Sim to allow his SME Corporation Malaysia Chairman to attack me and Lim Hui Ying in such an unprofessional and dishonest manner. Instead Steven Sim should advise his SME Corporation Malaysia Chairman to focus more on his duty to empower the SMEs than on unrelated political attacks.