Kula: Cabinet to set minimum wage by next week
SEPANG: The cabinet will set the minimum wage for the private sector at its meeting by next week, said Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran yesterday.
He said the government would set a uniform starting salary for the private sector in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.
“The paper on the proposal has been submitted to the cabinet. It will come up for deliberation soon, either this week or next,” he said.
Kulasegaran earlier sent off the Malaysian contingent to the Asean Skills Competition 2018 in Bangkok, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here.
He said the National Wages Consultative Technical Committee had conducted studies and consulted trade unions, employers and non-governmental organisations.
On the Asean Skills Competition, Kulasegaran said Malaysia hoped to secure more than 10 gold medals in the competition, which will be held from tomorrow until Sept 4.
He said the 48-member Malaysian contingent, comprising students of public and private skills training institutes, as well as public and private institutions of higher learning, would compete in 24 disciplines.
“The Malaysian strength lies in hairdressing, cooking, welding and industrial automation,” he said.
The Asean Skills Competition is a biennial competition to promote and upgrade skills standards in the Asean region.
Malaysia’s best outing in the competition was in 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, where it emerged the overall champion by winning 22 gold medals.
Skills Development Department director-general Nidzam Kamarulzaman, who is the chef de mission of the contingent, said Malaysia had drawn up a strategy to ensure an excellent performance at the competition this year.
“Our target is to bring back more than 10 gold medals. We expect stiff competition from the host country, Thailand.”