SHAH ALAM, 4 May: The fixing of the RM1,500 minimum wage for employees should be accompanied with a focus on medical and welfare facilities in order to accommodate the rising cost of living.

Technician Rahim Abd Samadi, 40, said that fixing of the minimum wage is good, but other aspects should be given attention to ensure that it can accommodate large families.

“Due to the high cost of living, facilities such as medical insurance for family members of employees and other welfare matters should be fought for.

“If they have to support 10 family members, the minimum wage is not enough for us.

“The increase in welfare is important, especially when we have old people living with us,” he told Selangor Kini.

Property consultant Hafiza Safian, 47, said that the problem of the ever increasing cost of living that is a burden to the people irrespective of how much wage is increased.

“It is not the issue of raising the minimum wage, price control is the reason why our wage is not sufficient these days.

“When wages increase, prices of goods also go up. Even if we have a salary of three thousand, the people still feel the burden because of the expensive price of goods.

“The federal government actually plays a role in controlling the market price of goods so that a minimum wage like RM1,500 can still be used to support families,” she said.

Student Muhammad Amir Amir, 21, said that even living as a student has a high cost every day.

“Even though I am a student, my monthly expenses is also almost RM1,000 an above, including rental costs, oil, daily food and projects.

“This is when my household income is only RM1,500 a month. The government should think of other welfare programmes that can help ease the burden of the people,” he said.

Prior to that, the Chief Minister, Mohamed Azmin Ali, in his Labour Day message, said that the Selangor government is consistently fighting for the minimum wage, not only in Selangor, but at the national level.

NS