The Dewan Negara was told that the increase in stamp price from 30 sen to 60 sen since July 1, 2010 did not burden the people.

Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang said the reason was that that the corporate customers were the main users of the postal service, involving more than 90 percent of the 1.2 billion mail volume a year.

“The old rate (30 sen) was used since 1992 and never increased,” he said in response to a question by Senator Lee Cheam Choon on the price increase of stamps, which he said was burdening the people.

Salang said the increase in the stamp price had nothing to do with the privatisation of Pos Malaysia Berhad on July 4, 2011.

The increase in the stamp price had enabled Pos Malaysia Berhad to carry out restructuring of the salary of its 15,000 postmen and postal clerks to enable them to enjoy a better standard of living, he added.

Salang said that although Pos Malaysia Berhad had been privatised, it continued to carry out its corporate social responsibility by providing free postal service to certain groups.

They included the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB), the Society of the Orthopaedically Handicapped, National Welfare Foundation, Poverty Eradication Foundation and the Malaysian Red Crescent Society.

Salang said Pos Malaysia also carried out a postal transformation programme  in Sabah and Sarawak to make accessible its services for the rural people.

Under the programme, 450 community postmen and 600 postal agents were appointed, he added.

- Bernama