MALAYSIA
Investvine-May 2
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak promised at a Labor Day speech on May 1 to raise the minimum wage this year if he wins the May 9 general election, adding to a raft of promises to voters as he faces a resurgent opposition, Reuters reported.
Najib’s former mentor, Mahathir Mohamad, now leads an opposition alliance united in the goal of unseating the prime minister and his Barisan Nasional coalition, which has ruled since the country gained independence from the British in 1957.
Najib told a Labor Day rally that he would raise the minimum wage from the current 1,000 ringgit ($255) per month in peninsular Malaysia and 920 ringgit in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak, if his coalition wins the polls. “So if you want the minimum wage rate to be raised, you know what to do. Do we have a deal?” he said to cheers from some 2,000 people gathered at the rally.
Najib also announced 200 million ringgit ($45 million) for a skilled workers program, an additional 60 million ringgit ($13.5 million) allocation for an insurance plan for retrenched workers and better maternity benefits for private sector workers.
Najib said this was all part of his administration’s efforts to better the lot of the country’s workers over his nine years in charge.
“If the Barisan Nasional government is a flower, the workers are the stem. Hence, do not be drawn to and drink from another ‘flower’,” he said, in a thinly-veiled reference to the logo of Mahathir’s new party.
However, this general election, Malaysia’s 14th, is arguably the toughest faced by Najib’s undefeated coalition. Besides the challenge from the 92-year-old Mahathir, Najib is also grappling with a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad and anger over rising living costs.
