ESTATE workers in Negri Sembilan face problems earning extra income due to restrictions imposed by Sime Darby, which controls all the estates in the state, Malaysia Nanban reported.
Negri Sembilan National Union of Plantation Workers secretary P. Santa Kumar said it regretted that the estate management had failed to refer to the worker’s union representative but instead informed the workers in a circular that they were not allowed to grow vegetables, keep animals, or plant coconut and banana trees for extra income.
He said the union had arranged for a meeting with state executive councillor and Jeram Padang assemblyman V. Mohan and state human resources officers to discuss the matter.
For those who are not aware, the minimum wage for an estate worker is RM350! And that's only if he shows up for work, so that is not technically "minimum wage".Meanwhile, in the private sector at large, there is also no "minimum wage".
According to Asia Times on July 18, 2007, most factories pay a basic salary of Rm350. Even five-star hotels in Kuala Lumpur pay a basic wage of RM290 per month to cleaners and waiters!
Now, the official poverty line is RM691 in Peninsular Malaysia and RM765/RM888 in Sarawak and Sabah respectively. So someone earning around RM300 is not only poor, they are DIRT POOR. Coz they will not be able to afford the RM30000 low cost houses (which by the way, sometimes sold to upper income owners if you know the "insiders"), nor can they afford a proper vehicle, nor can they afford schooling for their children, and not even decent groceries! To summarize, I imagine their living conditions are INHUMANE. To make ends meet, they probably would have to borrow money, and go into debts that they can never hope to repay. And now, for the estate workers, not being allowed to make side-income is going to make their lives even worse (if that is possible!).
And what is the stand of the government when MTUC demanded minimum pay of RM900 for private sector workers, or when a plantation NGO (PWSC) asked for RM750 for the estate workers? "We are as concerned about workers' wages, but we must ensure we remain competitive in the global context as well," said Fong Chan Onn, the previous Human Resources Minister. This is just one example of the government's response. Their concern is a RM900 minimum wage would lead to a surge in migrant workers from neighboring countries, as Malaysian wages would rise well above the average pay in those places. He pointed out that a minimum wage would mean paying the same amount to the 1.5 million legal foreign workers already here.
So the argument from the government is (1) minimum wage which is decent will mean (foreign) investors will pack their bags and run away to China or India or Vietnam or Thailand or..., and (2) minimum wage which is decent will mean more immigrants will be flooding this country because of our higher exchange rate.
So basically, the government is flooding our labor force with foreign workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh etc, so that the employers (foreign investors mostly) can keep paying inhumane salary so that their companies will flourish. And when they find better avenues elsewhere, which they probably, EVENTUALLY will (coz there will always be other countries that have lower exchange rate and cheap labor), what will happen to us? Aren't we just pushing away the inevitable, and living on borrowed time?
Now, why can't the geniuses in our government figure out that
A. Foreign investments are supposed to make our lives better, NOT WORSE!!
B. The profit the country makes from foreign investments on the back of our low paid workers should be given back to the laborers through social benefits such as child benefits, housing benefits, supplementary living cost allowances, etc to help them cope with their low pay, but sky-high living costs!
C. Stop the flooding of our labor markets with slaves from Indonesia, Bangladesh etc, through IMMIGRATION CONTROL and LABOR LAWS. So that employers are forced to employ local workers with decent pay.
D. Find OTHER WAYS to energize our economy, and not just depend on foreign manufacturing companies. Such as our own companies that produce quality products. Japan has done it, China and India are doing it, why can't we??
E. SPEND THE MONEY in R&D, instead of on Masjid Kristal, Putrajaya Mansions, Space Tourism, Monsoon Cup (during Monsoon??) and other Bolehland mega projects. Which we KNOW are million or billion dollar projects which are INFLATED to benefit some cronies.
F. The only reason we cannot seem to carry out R&D to produce innovative products to market is because our blasted education system favors mediocrity over meritocracy, and chases away future scientists to foreign lands.
Oh, and by the way, Sime Darby is a MALAYSIAN company.
courtesy of tides of changes
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