Only Gerakan thinks for the wage earner
Of all the
political parties that you can find in Malaysia, only Gerakan has found the
Blue Ocean Strategy to improve the nation buying power. Its president Datuk Mah
Siew Keong proposed that the Government of Malaysia should introduce a “wage
top-up” scheme to help Malaysians who earn below RM2,500 per month. [ http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/10/19/Wage-topup-proposed-for-Msians-earning-below-RM2500/ ] This is a Barisan Nasional's idea. So far, no Opposition party has suggested this idea.
Many
Malaysians on the streets are not earning enough to feed their families and
being Malaysians, they are a patience lot. The majority of them are finding
making ends meet more difficult as the days passes. They have find that their
income cannot cover the essential costs of living. Their rate of increase of
income has lagged behind the rate of increase of the costs of essential goods and
services.
The
escalating prices of essential goods and services for the past few years have make many
families difficult to adjust to unexpected spiraling costs of living. To ease
their burden, the governing party before Najib Administration has never gave monetary aid to low-income Malaysians. [ Example: BR1M ]
The present government is able to continue to grow the economy and take care of Malaysians
despite the trying conditions for Malaysia. Household debt is growing. Slow
creation of high-skilled jobs has let many Malaysians holding on to the aging
low-income level of the past trend which is not survivable in the present days.
If these
Malaysians of the lower-medium income group has lost the buying power, the rate
of social problems would naturally climb up. Crime rates would increase.
It is
indeed good that the Budget 2016 give more money than the previous budget to the lower-middle-income groups
to help them cope with the rising cost of living. The amount of BR1M is raised
and it involves;
-a payment
of RM1,050 for those earning less than RM1,000.
-a payment
of RM1,000 for household with income less than RM3,000.
-a payment
of RM800 for household with income less between RM3,001 to RM4,000.
-a payment
of RM400 for single aged 21 and above earning not more than RM2,000.
Being a
component of the National Front or BN, surely this Gerakan’s Blue Ocean idea is a winning point for the ruling Barisan Nasional party. Increasing the minimum
wages from RM900 to RM1,000 for peninsula worker and RM800 to RM920 for Sabah,
Sarawak and Labuan worker only benefited 0.8 of Malaysian workers while 2.2
million of the 3 million workforce are foreigners.
Senior Malaysian citizens without a monthly pension are finding difficult to survive these days
and the escalating costs of living is alleviating the hardship of ageing
Malaysians. Cost pressures are now biting consumers painfully as they withstand
the higher cost of living brought about by the Goods and Services Tax and also
the weaker ringgit. A relief of RM1,500 for the child to support one unemployed
parent may not necessary mean that the ageing parent is fed when the child
himself is struggling to fend his own family. Would you pick a “Yes” or a “No”
for Unemployment Income for the unemployed in the next budget.
Would vote a Yes or a No to give unemployment income to the unemployed ?
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