KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — Employers in Sabah and Sarawak cannot afford to pay workers a minimum wage of RM1,000 that has been set in the peninsula in Budget 2016, two ministers said today.
Human Resource Minister Datuk Richard Riot Jaem and Second Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah defended the government’s decision to set a lower minimum wage in East Malaysia at RM920 compared to West Malaysia.
Riot said employers’ ability to pay their workers and the median wage of the state were taken into consideration when setting the minimum wage, pointing out that there are fewer industries in Sabah and Sarawak.
“So to be fair to employers in Sabah and Sarawak, we can’t have the same minimum wage because if we do that then I’m afraid that many of the employers in Sabah and Sarawak, may have to ‘gulung tikar’, they will have to wind up.
“That would mean many will be unemployed and we don’t want that to happen,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the minimum wage increase for private sector workers in the peninsula from RM900 to RM1,000, while for Sabah and Sarawak, the increase is from RM800 to RM920.
Minimum wage for civil servants meanwhile increased to RM1,200, which will take effect from the middle of next year.
Critics have said that the cost of living in both the states in East Malaysia is generally higher than in the peninsula, hence the minimum wage should be the same as in the peninsula, if not higher.
Husni said because the current salary level in both Sabah and Sarawak is “quite low”, the government has to consider companies’ ability to pay their workers.
“We have to think also about the ability of the companies to support,” he said.
Earlier, he had said Sabah and Sarawak need to achieve a high income position and that it was “high time” the government focus on East Malaysia, justifying the benefits announced in Najib’s budget speech earlier.
