KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh publicly declared her assets on Twitter today after seeing her monthly salary jump to RM22,500 following an increase for government leaders and elected representatives effective from 2014.

In response to attacks that allegedly implied she earned more than the prime minister and deputy prime minister, the DAP politician took to Twitter to declare she does not have a luxurious lifestyle that involved “diamonds” and “private jets”.

“(1) The Star & BN reps imply I earn more than @NajibRazak @MuhyiddinYassin @muhy. Far from it.I can declare my assets,” the second-term Subang Jaya state lawmaker posted on Twitter, referring to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a series of messages on the microblogging site, Yeoh attached a snapshot of a news report in The Star today that featured a table titled “Who’s earning what” with a comparison of the salaries for several federal posts and Selangor state posts.

Yeoh tweeted a list of things she owned, including a house and a car, adding that she had no side revenue apart from her job as an elected representative and speaker.

“(2) I co-own one terrace house with my husband and one Kia Sorento car. No other side income. No diamonds. No contracts. No private jets.

“(3) My husband has no role in any state agencies. My 2 babies have only toys and not involved in any companies doing business with govt,” she added in an apparent bid to pre-empt any accusations of conflict of interest involving her family.

“(4) My hands are still clean. I work like all other working folks. I am the first woman Speaker. I am not the first lady,” she concluded.

Following Election 2013, Yeoh was sworn in as the Speaker for the Selangor state assembly, marking history by being the first woman in Malaysia to hold such a post at both the federal and state level.

Yeoh confirmed to The Malay Mail Online when contacted that she had written the four tweets.

In another tweet later, Yeoh challenged Umno ministers to declare their assets before they “keep talking on mainstream TV and papers”.

Yeoh also maintained that she was not defending the pay rise, saying that she would have continued serving even without the increment.

“And for the record I am not defending the pay hike. Got hike or not, I have already served in last 5 years and will continue to serve,” she said in a separate tweet.

Yesterday, the Selangor state assembly approved the increase of the monthly pay for the state’s Mentri Besar, executive councillors and legislative body, with the percentage of increase reportedly ranging from 87 per cent to 373 per cent.

The pay rise proposal, which is set to take effect from next year, was previously approved by the Selangor executive council on November 22, The Star reported today.

Following the revision, the Selangor speaker’s monthly pay will be raised from RM6,109.29 to RM22,500, while the deputy speaker will get RM15,750 instead of RM3,327.50, with state assemblymen’s pay to go up from RM6,000 to RM11,250.

The Selangor Mentri Besar’s current monthly pay of RM14,175 will be revised to RM29,250, while the state exco members’ pay of RM6,109.29 will be hiked up to RM20,250.

The last time Selangor adjusted the salaries was in 2004 in accordance with increased responsibilities for the representatives , an aide to the state mentri besar told The Malay Mail Online today.

“The decision to raise the salaries is due to the burden of increased duties and responsibilities,” Khalid told the Selangor state assembly, with the PKR leader also saying that the state’s healthy finances had contributed to the decision for a pay rise.

“And of course, it is also because of the continued requests made by the assemblymen,” said the second-term Mentri Besar who stepped into office in 2008.

The state’s Opposition Leader Datuk Shamsuidn Lias was supportive of the pay rise, noting that the state lawmakers’ have not been raised for a long time.

“The increases are timely and in tandem with the high cost of living. They will allow us assemblymen to intensify our services to our constituents,” the BN state lawmaker was quoted as saying by The Star today.

In the table entitled “Who’s earning what” in The Star, Najib’s and Muhyiddin’s monthly pay was placed at RM22,826.65 and RM18,168.15 respectively, with ministers and deputy ministers getting RM14,907.20 and RM10,847.65, while federal lawmakers take home RM6,508.59.

These set of statistics were placed against the revised pay figures for the Selangor Mentri Besar, Speaker, deputy speaker, exco members and assemblymen.

Selangor is now being ruled by the federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for the second term, with the pact having wrested control of the country’s most industrialised and wealthiest state from the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in Election 2008.