YOURSAY ‘Already there are more Bangladeshis than Indian Malaysians in the country.’

'We’ll do the dirty jobs - but this is what you must pay'

Old timer: If we want to claim Malaysia to be a developed country, we cannot give our own Malaysian workers poor pay, pay that is not enough to survive. We should hire our own people, give them decent wages and raise their standard of living.

Stop hiring foreign labourers who, sooner or later, will cause social problems, bring in exotic diseases and remit currency out of the country. Stop the excuses of the industries that want cheap labour and exploit foreigners, while the bosses laugh their way to the banks.

Nil: The government should have made studies as to what level of wages is relevant for the various sectors for locals vis-a-vis foreign workers to find a suitable and acceptable level of wages.

What about a cost-benefit study on the subject ? Based on these studies, we may find that we really need foreign workers, or we may not. There is no point making challenges without empirical research data.

Hibiscus: Congratulations to the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas) for coming up with its proposal. I think the proposal is fair. It is in line with the government's plan to achieve developed country status with high income for its citizens.

Using local labour will raise the quality of work. The economy will improve with more people able to afford to buy things. I believe businessmen who hire foreign workers are, by and large, clever at making money. They will be able to adjust.

Anonymous 601731444366344: Yes, it’s a fair proposal. Makes so much sense. Also, this promotes no outflow of ringgit. This should be the country's policy versus 'cheap' foreign labour. Technically, there aren’t any difficulties with levies, additional accommodation, transport needs, etc, etc.

Cks: The Chinese Malaysian youths will not be enticed by higher basic wage of RM1,500 to do 'dirty' or low- skilled jobs; they would probably go for lower wage to learn a skill or trade.

The Malay Malaysian youths are mostly enticed by low-skilled, undemanding, non-competitive and unsupervised jobs, like the civil service, despatch, etc. Better still if they could be given handouts without moving a finger.

So Ikhlas, raise the minimum wage and there will still not be enough local takers

Nehru: The minimum should be, as PKR proposed , RM1,500 and from there additional RM200 for very dirty jobs. Others mostly are reasonable request.

So let’s see if Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin have the calibre to get this done, or will they just make another ‘dirty job’ excuse.

Anonymous_1371550919: It is not so simple, Ikhlas. I pay my dispatch clerk RM2,000. But he cannot hold his job. He will disappear after making his dispatches. No sense of commitment. Late for work regularly. What do I do? Apparently this is a common issue faced by employers.

What the DPM misses is productivity. It's not just the willingness to do dirty jobs. How much can dirty jobs pay? It's the lack of skill that's cutting out our youths from higher income. There's just this lack of effort to achieve what is possible among the majority of our youths, and this transcends race.

Send in the Clowns: Obviously, the home minister has not heard of the saying, "Charity begins at home". Or is he having something dodgy in mind, like injecting more 'instant mee' into the electorate roll?

Tell the Truth: Already there are more Bangladeshis than Indian Malaysians in the country. Soon there will be more Bangladeshis than Chinese Malaysians.

PKR: Make 'dirty' jobs desirable to M'sian youth

Anticonmen: Give incentives to Malaysian companies to employ Malaysians and to employ the old and retirees. Make it conducive for Malaysians to work by improving the transport system, boost security by police so that there are no snatch thefts and encourage healthy eateries every where for workers.

Encourage women to work by providing training and retraining and incentives to pursue further education and become productive.

Give tax incentives for employers who employ more than, say 10 Malaysians. Provide homes for the homeless and train them to become productive workers. So many things can be done for Malaysian workers provided you have the will and the brains to do it.

Do not steal from the rakyat's coffers, but make sure there is equitable distribution of the nation's wealth for all, irrespective of race, religion or gender. Manage the country professionally and honestly in the service of Malaysians.

Responsible malaysian: Every job is acceptable as long as workers are treated with dignity.

Hopeful123: With the current value of the ringgit, the minimum wage should be nothing less than RM2,000. We have to be truthful and honest when comparing Bangladeshi workers with locals. As someone pointed out, the Banglas can thrive on minimum comfort and food as their sole aim is to go back to their country with all their hard-earned money.

But Malaysians are married locally and have children and a wife to take care of, besides housing and car loans to settle and other unavoidable expenses. Please do the needful for our own citizens before going out to bring in foreigners to work, depriving Malaysians of a livelihood.

Debater: The government should give incentives for industries to mechanise or automate jobs that are low paying and are repetitive. In fact, the government should take the lead by mechanising and automating its own operations, where ever possible.

For example, the Pubic Works Department should mechanise its road cleaning. Instead of contracting out to cronies that make use of cheap labour to sweep the roads, buy road sweeping vehicles that are used in developed countries.

Anticonmen: A professional person will know how to manage a country or enterprise honestly for the benefit of people who elected him to manage their resources for them. But an incompetent person, or a crook, will abuse the power given to him and screw things up for the people.

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