KUALA LUMPUR: A Pakatan Harapan MP says the government should consider increasing the current minimum wage of RM1,500 to more than RM2,000.
M Kula Segaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) said a Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) study in 2017 had proposed a living wage of RM2,700 for single persons living in urban areas, RM4,500 for couples without children, and RM6,500 for couples with two children.
Debating the 12th Malaysia Plan mid-term review in the Dewan Rakyat today, the former human resources minister related how he met a single mother with two children who worked in Parliament and was paid a monthly salary of RM1,500.
“Is this reasonable?” he asked.
“Can she live in Kuala Lumpur and support her two children with RM1,500 (a month)?
“I think this (minimum wage) needs to be re-evaluated.”
The RM1,500 minimum wage came into effect on May 1 last year.
In March, human resources minister V Sivakumar announced that the government was studying BNM’s proposal to implement a living wage in accordance with its 2017 study.
Last month, Sivakumar said the minimum wage of RM1,500 would be maintained when the progressive wage system is introduced by the government next year.
He said the progressive wage system would be practised in tandem with the minimum wage and increase the productivity of workers so as to benefit employers as well, Bernama reported.