Wages in Malaysia are also kept down by our decades-long, unwise over-dependence on cheap, foreign labour. Of great concern is the high number of illegal migrant workers.
A RECENT article titled “Short-term relief measures not the answer, govt told” crucially points out how cost of living should not be framed mainly as a price issue. Rather, it is about people’s wages and purchasing power, and that government assistance programmes do not address stagnant wages.
A similar, relevant point was on how targeted interventions such as cash assistance, Rahmah sales, selective subsidies and price controls on essential items were not enough if they failed to translate into stronger purchasing power.
One huge, longstanding contradiction in Malaysia is that despite experiencing high GDP levels annually and being a rich nation in general, many Malaysians have insufficient wages and savings, especially considering the ever-increasing high cost of living.
Another article titled “Retirement benchmark feels like a distant goal for most Malaysians” highlighted how Malaysians in general have difficulty meeting the Employees Provident Fund’s revised target of RM1.3 million in individual savings in order to enjoy a comfortable retirement.
A main challenge cited was expenditure towards their children’s education, housing loan, medical bills and daily expenses. Some said they had to make tough choices like cutting back on non-essential spending. In terms of having inadequate savings – apart from poor financial behaviour and planning, and inconsistent savings and employment – one major contributing factor is insufficient wages. This in turn is caused by unfair distribution of wealth and profits by the corporate sector towards their own workers.
Wages in Malaysia are also kept down by our decades-long, unwise over-dependence on cheap, foreign labour. Of great concern is the high number of illegal migrant workers.
Many employers hire these workers over Malaysian citizens simply because they are a source of cheap labour, which translates into higher profits for employers.
The government must tackle these serious systemic problems soon by imposing proper regulations and oversight mainly towards the bigger, more profitable corporations. This is to ensure that workers are better compensated, employers don’t cheat their workers, and locals are prioritised over foreign workers.
There must also be stricter government oversight and enforcement towards the relevant government departments, third-party agents and employers involved in bringing in illegal migrant workers.
When the working class, which make up the country’s majority, have higher, fairer wages and thus greater purchasing power, they will naturally spend more domestically. This will bolster the country’s economy and increase the revenue of not only our local businesses but also of foreign corporations as well. Hence, increasing wages truly creates a win-win scenario for everyone.
Better wages will also help retain more of our local workforce. As a recent opinion piece titled “Malaysia is exporting talent because it refuses to fix the system” emphasised, a core issue in Malaysia is unfair pay.
In many fields, salaries do not reflect workers’ skills or the rising cost of living. This mismatch is a key reason more Malaysians are choosing to build their careers overseas, with some even renouncing their citizenship in pursuit of fairer opportunities.
