KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The government in the long term needs to improve the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) and use a broad approach to resolve the issue of the minimum wage, said the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM).
Its chairman Norsyahrin Hamidon said the government should set clear goals to ensure that the majority of workers will eventually earn a salary that exceeds the living wage.
“For example, the government through the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan set the goal that by 2025 only 40 per cent of households are below the living wage threshold, and by 2030 only 10 per cent,” he added.
“We think higher wages can be the most important factor in shaping our industry and trade rather than just being labour-intensive, low-tech with a dependence on foreign workers,” he said in a statement today.
He thinks there are good features of PWM that can be absorbed into the minimum wage policy, though it is not a silver bullet to leave behind the existing minimum wage system in total disregard.
In the meantime, based on a study by Bank Negara and the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), a reasonable living wage is estimated at around RM2,600 per month for single adults in the Klang Valley, but EPF’s BelanjawanKu suggests around RM2,300 per month this year.
He also said BelanjawanKu EPF suggests the average living wage for a married couple with two children is about RM6,000 but through median household data from the Chief Statistician of the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), about 51 per cent of households earn below RM6,000. — Bernama
