Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s challenge to Malaysian youths to fill up jobs being carried out by foreigners so as to stop the influx of migrant workers has been met with a counter-challenge.

The challenge from the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas) to Putrajaya is for the government to set industry-based floor wages, starting at RM1,200.

“We don’t need foreign workers. This is our challenge to the government if it really wants to help and not take advantage of the people,” Ikhlas president Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah said.

These are the wages and incentives Ikhlas believes will attract locals to the now shunned "dirty, dangerous and demeaning jobs":

Factory general worker: RM1,500;
Cleaner: RM1,200;
Security guard: RM1,500;
Plantation worker: RM1,500;
Construction worker: RM1,500;
Domestic helper: RM700 + RM200 special allowance to be paid by the government;
Petrol station attendant: RM1,300;
Mini mart keeper: RM1,000;
Supermarket floor staff: RM1,300;
Wet market staff: RM1,000;
Wholesale wet market staff: RM1,300; and
General labourer: RM1,300.

Added incentives:

Free healthcare;
Insurance coverage;
Employer contribution to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso);
Service bonus of RM10,000 (15 years of service) and RM15,000 (25 years of service);
Government pension of RM300 for 10 years after retirement at the age of 55;
Car and housing loans for those who have worked with the same employee for more than five years; and
50 percent Tabung Haji + 20 percent employer subsidy to perform the Haj, for Muslim workers who have remained with the same employer for more than 15 years.

Starting July, the minimum wage in Peninsular Malaysia will be RM1,100 per month and RM920 a month in Sabah and Sarawak.

PKR Youth vice-chief Fahmi Fadzil yesterday called on the government to set minimum wage at RM1,500 across industries to attract locals to the jobs now filled by foreigners.

However, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin argued that raising wages to attract locals into jobs would bump up the cost of living.

Putrajaya and Dhaka last week signed a memorandum of understanding to allow Bangladeshi general workers into Malaysia.

There are 1.5 million workers on the Bangladeshi government’s recruitment database, raring to apply for jobs in Malaysia.