KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Young people will not shy away from dirty, difficult and dangerous (3D) work as long as they receive a minimum wage of RM1,500 a month, several student groups said.

Universiti Malaya (UM) student council president Ammar Atan pointed out that the majority of Malaysians employed in Singapore, which the World Bank 2012 report estimated at 400,000, were blue collar workers.

“The value of the currency is among the factors why many young people or Malaysians are willing to work for years there, and if converted here, the money is a lot more compared to doing manual labour in Malaysia; the main issue is still the same — the monthly salary,” Ammar told Malay Mail Online.

Local daily Utusan Malaysia reported Johor Youth, Sports and Culture committee chairman Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan as saying yesterday that Malaysians, especially youths, were willing to do dirty, difficult and dangerous work in Singapore because of the far higher pay in the republic compared to Malaysia.

Following criticism against a planned intake of 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers into the country, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last week challenged Malaysian youths to get involved in fields such as agriculture and manual labour if they were against the entry of foreign workers.

Critics then told the government to revise the minimum wage, which is set at RM1,000 and RM920 per month respectively in the peninsula and east Malaysia, and employee benefits in the country.

Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam Se Malaysia (Gamis) president Muhammad Afiq Awang Bakar also called for a RM1,500 minimum wage, pointing out that many Malaysians were willing to do manual labour in the west because they were adequately compensated.

“If the salary offered is adequate, I’m sure many youths will consider such jobs,” Muhammad Afiq told Malay Mail Online. “I figure that a minimum wage of RM1,500 is suitable; at the very least, it’s commensurate with the high cost of living.”

UM student activist Vince Tan said salary was the main consideration for youths and that whether the job was dirty, difficult and dangerous was secondary.

“It’s all about making ends meet,” Tan told Malay Mail Online.

The law graduate said he personally felt that monthly wages needed to be at least RM2,000 to make ends meet in the Klang Valley.

“I am considering to move back to Penang and look for a job there and live with my parents to cut my expenses. I spend at least RM20 a day in KL/ PJ just on food and transport. So that would be RM600 a month, plus other expenses like insurance and rent, you can say half of my salary would go to my overhead cost,” said Tan.