MALAYSIANS of all stripes and persuasions must be embarrassed by the revelation of the chief executive of the Employees Provident Fund that 44% of its active members in the formal sectors of the economy earn below RM2,000 per month.
The living wage has been estimated at RM2,700 per month. The informal sector of the economy, whose participants earn on average less than the formal sector, are in a worse situation. It can be estimated that more than half of Malaysians earn less than the living wage.
This situation is an abject disgrace, which is caused chiefly by the profligacy, greed, corruption and abuse by the political and business elites of the country.
It has been allowed to go on for too long, and the only way for change is for the common people of the country to take back power from the political and business elites. A mass movement of the people through various forms of civil resistance is required to challenge the status quo.
Malaysia has descended into an “election-only” democracy, where other than the casting of ballots once every four to five years, a small “oligarchy” rules the country.
Many of those involved in the corrupt Najib administration still walk free and count themselves among the political and business elites.
These are the people who have denied common Malaysians from earning a living wage and enjoying the spoils of the country’s economic success.
Institutions such as the central bank, Bank Negara, do not intervene when foreign banks terminate workers and then pay them the bare minimum as guaranteed by law, when such banks have raked in billions of dollars in profits over the years.
Similarly circumstanced, central banks of other countries intervene to compel the same foreign bank to pay impacted workers many times more than what is received by their Malaysian counterparts.
Malaysian institutions are taken for granted, and run over easily by foreign companies. This is corruption in its worst form, and reeks of treachery towards the very people’s interests they are supposed to safeguard.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is on the right path in embarking on a reform agenda, though he can’t do it alone. The people must rise and resist, and that way the path to reform would be expedited.
Where Malaysians are being exploited by any organisation, whether local or foreign, a mass boycott of such an organisation is one way in which pressure can be inflicted to force the issue. Civil society organisations should come together and act in unison to fight such exploitation.
Malaysia is a country rich in natural resources, and the wealth should be equitably distributed. The kleptocratic culture can only be reversed with widespread and concerted action by all Malaysians who do not count themselves amongst the political and business elites exploiting Malaysia and her people. – The Vibes, March 13, 2023
Callistus Antony D. Angelus is the international labour adviser of the Social Protection Contributors Advisory Association Malaysia
