KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — Malaysian United Democratic Union (Muda) co-founder Amir Abd Hadi today said that cutting ministers’ salary may not affect Malaysia’s inflation rate, but it would still serve as a lesson to politicians who are disconnected from the public's plight.
Responding to Multimedia and Communication Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Amir said ministers would otherwise fail to understand how the public is facing the effects of inflation including rising costs of goods and services.
"One of the first steps is to cut these ministers’ salaries so that they know how hard it is for the people for them to persevere because they’re too disconnected and that’s why they did not make an effort to come up with a solution,” he spoke to the press in front of Dang Wangi police station.
Amir was one of the 15 protesters that were called by the police for an investigation after Saturday’s Turun street protest that had among others called for the wage cut.
Rajsurian Pillai, a lawyer representing one of the 15, said they cooperated fully with the investigation and will leave it to the deputy public prosecutors (DPP) to decide if further action was needed.
The 15 also included Muda deputy president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director Sevan Doraisamy, Undi18 co-founder Qyira Yusri, and student coalition’s spokesperson Rafiq Shahmie.
Yesterday, the police summoned nine attendees including Ketari assembly person Young Syefura Othman to help with their investigations on the #Turun protest.
Two days ago, police called 30 individuals including the organizers of the #Turun protest to have their statements recorded.
About 100 had gathered on Saturday outside the Sogo shopping mall on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman calling for prices of goods to be lowered, but they were blocked by the police while attempting to march towards Dataran Merdeka.
Among others, the protesters called for the government to take immediate action on the rising prices of necessities, deducting ministers’ salaries and addressing the issue of food security.
