Don’t fret about minimum wage, people told

KAPIT: The people are told not to worry too much about the standardised new RM1,050 minimum wage announced by the government Wednesday.

“Be positive, don’t just look at the negative side. For workers in Sarawak this is definitely a good news, They have RM150 extra in the pocket for buying daily necessities,” said a housing developer who only wanted to be known as Ah Tey.

He added that with the extra money the people would have more purchasing power. It is also good for the country’s economy, he said when asked for his opinion on the matter, yesterday.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced on Wednesday that the government would implement a standardised minimum wage of RM1,050 a month or RM 5.05 per hour nationwide, including Sabah and Sarawak, from Jan 1 next year.

The decision was made after considering the recommendations from the National Wages Consultative Council ( MPGN) on the review of the Minimum Wages Order 2016.

The Minimum Wages Order 2016 provides a minimum wage of RM1,000 per month for Peninsula Malaysia and RM920 per month for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

“To implement a standardised new minimum wage of RM 5.05 per hour is surely better than BRIM. It ( BR1M) didn’t benefit the recipients at all. Most spent it on gambling and drinking.

“Whether it (minimum wage) would cause another round of price hikes of essential goods and services, the government has a mechanism through the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs to monitor the market to ensure prices and charges are reasonable,” Ah Tey said.

Asked whether it (increase) would incur extra overhead expenses on the employers, he said there would be some but ‘bear in mind that at the end of the day, it’s the consumers who have to bear the extras. Just like GST the same theory applies’.

“Each time the government implements a new policy, it will certainly affect the people. This one is no different,” added Ah Tey

A food and drink caterer who only wished to be called Wilson meanwhile said: “Let us wait and see. It is too early to say whether it will cause another round of price hike.

“Take for example the price of sugar. When the government announced a 10sen increase in the price per kg of sugar, the price of a cup of coffee was still the same at, say RM1.20. We have to take into account other things such as the imported coffee powder, and labour and service charges.

“As members of Federated Malaysia Coffee Shop and Restaurant Owners Association, we wait for directive from our Kuala Lumpur office to give us a guideline,” he said.