Minimum Wage discussion must be clearly articulated...

The government today has announced that the minimum wage of "RM800 pay for maids can’t be enforced" and the Sunday Star has further published discussions on the issue in "Should bosses pay a minimum wage? " wherein pros and cons on the implementation of a minimum wage policy are highlighted.

This has been a longstanding discussion and there seems to be no 'light at the end of the tunnel" for a final decision to be made. The Ministry also seems to be vacillating on this matter, giving the reason that there is no minimum wage structure in the country to support a decision for a minimum wage and that wages should be decided by "market forces".

I find the reasoning a bit tenuous and more so when viewed against an announced Government Policy to make Malaysia a "high income" nation. It is only reasonable to subscribe to a "market force" policy on the payment of wages, IF, [and this is a BIG 'if'] the Government does not encourage or allow local industries to "import" cheap foreign labour into the country, in order to avoid paying locals an equitable salary. If, as it has been reported in the same feature, that some locals only get a salary of around RM550 per month, it is very difficult to see how many of our poor manage to survive with dignity.

More so, if the govt tacitly allows freely the 'import' of cheap labour from our neighbours, to work with less than 'livable' wages and in 'slave like' conditions, [eg. no off day, no medical coverage, and no bank account opened], it will really take a very naive person to believe that Malaysia is a country that we are proud to be associated with.

I also feel that some employers, when defending against the implementation of a minimum wage, should give valid reasons to do so. Two reasons quoted in your feature seems to show confusion among the employers, to say the least: I quote:

• A minimum wage will increase business costs and companies might have to resort to laying off workers as they rely on cheap labour to be competitive, he reasons.

How can employers lay off workers who are paid the minimum wage WHEN THERE IS A MINIMUM WAGE POLICY? If there is still cheap labour around after the policy is implemented, then those labour are all ILLEGALLY recruited

• A minimum wage, he adds, might attract youngsters to stop school.

How can that be, as we have laws and morals against employing "child labour". If I am not mistaken, most children finish SPM at around 18 years of age.

What I am trying to suggest is that, this is an important long term issue that will make Malaysia a progressive nation, or will keep it stuck in the backwaters of South East Asia, while the others move ahead. We need a sober and mature discourse, and a decision that is equitable for all parties, and for the long term good of the nation.

Let's see a clear policy on minimum wage