YOURSAY 'Please reduce your profit margins to absorb this minimum salary scheme. Be fair to your fellow human beings; they are not your slave workers.'

Sudden rise in wage will 'hurt' industries, say groups

your say Righteous: Any business or manufacturer that complains about the RM900 minimum wage for any reason should be ashamed of themselves.

After all these years, you have exploited these poor people, now they are given this and you complain.

Clever Voter: Cheap labour costs are no longer sustainable. These capitalists are greedy, and want to squeeze their staff. But no longer should this carry on.

They should close shop if they think they can hire people for a pittance. Let's be responsible - look after your people and they return the favour.

Voteforchange: Sorry, I don't buy the idea of minimum wage. In the end, we all will suffer when the higher labour cost is translated into higher consumer prices for all of us.

Only the underpaid workers will gain from this policy. So, if you want to earn more, you got to study and work harder. Simple as that. There is no short cut to an easy life.

Gusnargh: The problem here is not the workers and I hesitate to blame the employers too.

The fact is many small businesses in Malaysia are being pushed out of business because many larger, crony-linked businesses are able to access cheap government loans and use economies of scale to push down their costs and out-compete the small businesses.

I support the idea of a minimum wage as long as it gives everyone a chance to get a working wage. But, please, the government must also give some thought to controlling the employment of foreign workers.

Right now, small businesses are hiring foreign workers because they don't have to pay EPF (Employees Provident Fund), Socso (Social Security Organisation) or contribute to the HRDF (Human Resources Development Fund).

Make the cost of hiring a foreign worker the same as hiring a local worker.

Anonymous: Hiring foreign workers is not cheap. Employers have to absorb levy, medical, housing, etc.

The attitude of young locals have changed. They want an easy job with high salary. So at the end of the day, there are other reasons behind our dependancy of foreign workers other than salary alone.

Anonymous_3f6d: The companies have been exploiting the workers all the while, so please reduce your profit margins to absorb this minimum salary scheme. Be fair to your fellow human beings; they are not your slave workers.

Nambekei 7: These people can pay their maids RM900 but they cannot pay their workers a minimum wage.

They should go open a coffee shop if they can't make profits. They should be looking at automation, improving productivity, sending workers for training, etc, and consider giving something back to workers rather than go on their holidays.

Anonymous: Such companies should bite the bullet. If you are no longer competitive, close shop. You have no right to exploit the poor workers.

Please move into areas where you can be competitive and survive. We have a situation where jobs have been taken by millions of foreign workers instead of locals.

Anonymous: Minimum wage definitely have to be revised as the current rate is too low.

However, to call employers greedy is very shallow of the commentators. Do you know what it takes to become an entrepreneur? Do you know how much one suffers or the hardship one has to go through during the initial years when starting a business? Do you know the risk involved?

After the many years of hardship, stress and risk, you think it is unfair for your boss to take a holiday or buy an expensive car?

Those of you who support increased wages, are you willing to pay more for the end product? Why will increases in wages hurt industries? Because most consumers still expect cheap goods.

Wages have to be reasonable. At the same time, productivity has to increase. Both employers and employees should work together to make things better.

MY Kee: Of course, all the workers would love to have minimum wage. Can the industry handle it? Small shop or factory owners will probably reduce head count to cut the cost (unemployment rate increase).

The export industry will lose its competitiveness, more foreign investors will go to places like Vietnam and India to produce their products. It's not to say that minimum wage is bad. It is good, but the implementation must be gradual.

Gggg: A firm starts small with the boss driving a Proton and its staff taking the bus. After 10 years, the boss is driving a big car yet the staff are still taking the bus, and some lucky ones manage to buy a Kancil.

The staff still struggle to buy a house but the boss has bought many houses and even a farm in China.

With the minimum-wage policy, the boss may have to live with just one or two houses, but at least the staff can drive a Proton and probably afford a house.

The income disparity between employers and employees is too wide here in Malaysia compared with that in the developed countries.

 

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