ALOR STAR: The Consumers Association of Kedah (Cake) has urged the government to boost the current minimum wage of RM1,500 by at least 40 per cent to RM2,100 in its upcoming review.
Cake president Yusrizal Yusoff stressed that increasing the minimum wage was key to easing the burden of cost of living for the people.
He said RM2,100 would better align with the general living wage of the country as even Alor Star, the city with the lowest nationwide cost of living, has a living wage of RM1,900.
"If the government proposes to raise the minimum wage from RM1,500 to RM1,600, I think that it wouldn't suffice. I hope that the minimum wage is increased to RM2,100.
"If we look at today's scenario, the rise in prices of goods can no longer be contained. The steep increase in prices is very apparent today.
"So, in such circumstances, the solution is that we hope for this wage increase, which will balance out today's economic situation," he said when contacted.
Yusrizal said the move was crucial to ensure Malaysians a dignified quality of life.
"Mismatched wages and cost of living lead to social ills and crimes that need to be curbed. There are also many cases of suicide. This incurs losses and expenses for the country as well," he added.
Yusrizal also stressed that while increasing the minimum wage, the government must also ensure that the prices of goods remain at controlled levels.
"Increases in minimum wage, naturally lead to higher average salaries. This will increase people's income and boost the economy. It will enable better purchasing power and actually advance businesses," he added.
He said the wage hike was also necessary because businesses simply cannot absorb the increased cost of production.
"The cost of certain commodities such as rice and utilities like water and energy will eventually need to go up, hopefully with higher pay, the people won't be too affected," he added.
On Thursday, Human Resources Minister Steven Sim announced that the government would review the minimum wage this year, considering the views of both employers and employees.
He said the review would be based on the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011.
Malaysian University of Science and Technology's economic professor, Geoffrey Williams, had said the minimum wage should ideally be increased in line with living wage estimates from entities such as Bank Negara Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia, or the Employees Provident Fund's Belanjawanku, which would place the minimum wage at RM2,500 to RM3,000 for a single person.