The minimum wage policy is not a factor to the devastation of the Malaysian economy, says MIC Youth chief C Sivarraajh.

In a statement in Kuala Lumpur today, he said the policy was a central pin of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s policy to have an egalitarian economic system to share wealth among all citizens.

He was referring a blog posting on Sunday (Sept 11) in which veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin had said Najib’s policies, such as the minimum wage policy, had caused untold damage to the economy and misery to the people.

“To date, not a single industry has gone bust because of the minimum wage policy. It is just a scare tactic used by businesses and their representatives to frighten the people and government,” said Sivarraajh.

He added that the enforcement of the Minimum Wage Act gave millions of workers a fair wage upon which they could fall back to survive economic hardship.

Describing Kadir’s statement as “simply foolish and not consistent with the facts”, he said Malaysia needed a minimum wage policy simply because businesses had traditionally suppressed wages and milked the workers dry.

“Employers will always find an excuse against paying better wages and this is why the government has enforced the minimum wage law.”

- Bernama