BY IDA NADHIRAH
KUCHING: The public have expressed agreement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) proposal to raise Malaysia’s minimum wage to RM2,102 from the current RM1,500.
UNICEF recently suggested this increase, considering factors such as living costs, poverty line income and productivity.
“Yes, this is because the cost of living has risen significantly since the last revision, and the RM1,500 per month level is too low and below most reasonable poverty indicators.
“There are several reasons why the minimum wage should be increased. For example, it would reduce poverty and improve productivity.
“The main reason for increasing wages is that companies might raise wages to attract talent or provide higher compensation for their workers as an incentive to help business growth if a specific industry were to grow rapidly.
“All such factors have a wage-push inflation effect on the goods and services the company provides.”
“In my opinion, raising the minimum wage to RM2,102 is very reasonable because we can see that the cost of living is higher and goods are much more expensive compared to the past.
“As someone who will work in the future, and for those working now, this increase is very beneficial and helpful, especially in the present day and age.”
“Yes, it should be increased because every year, our cost of living is higher than the salaries we receive monthly.
“Thus, sufficient salaries must correspond to our expenses because of high demand.”
