Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak promised on Tuesday 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.
Najib’s former mentor, Mahathir Mohamad, now leads an opposition alliance united in the goal of unseating the prime minister and his Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which has ruled since the country gained independence from the British in 1957.
Najib told a Labour 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 for a skilled workers programme, an additional 60 million ringgit allocation for an insurance plan for retrenched workers and better maternity benefits for private sector workers.
This is a brilliant promise for a Government to make, since it forces others to pay – like businesses and anyone who hires staff.
But, what are all Najib’s cronies going to think about it?
Probably not a lot, since BN has been in power for 60 years and he is only promising this hike one week before the election. People ought to stop to think of all the other promises made by BN that never happened and realise this one won’t either!
The only certainty about voting BN is that a dangerous thief will then be back in power with his hands on all the public’s remaining savings and the power to borrow billions that the public will have to pay back.
Some of those stolen billions are being used to hand out to voters right now at every election gathering as dirty cash is handed out, sometimes in envelopes by the candidates, sometimes just grubby from the hand.
Najib is treating voters like children receiving pocket money, when in fact he has stolen their own money and is handing just a bit back to disguise the fact that one day they will discover their bank accounts are empty.