RM800 minimum wage proposal

Indonesia is proposing RM800 minimum wage for its nationals working as maids in Malaysia.

Not a good idea. Why?

1. Malaysians may resort to illegal hiring
2. Abuse cases could go unreported as the maids may worry about being deported.

The above reasons were given by the Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.

Agencies handling foreign maids said the minimum wage salary of RM800 for the Indonesian maids was not commensurate with their qualifications. Unlike Singapore, maids from Indonesia had to sit for entry exams and had to be fluent in the English language. Malaysian employers are apparently more accommodating and able to accept lower standard maids because the salary is much lower – (perhaps its lower compared to hiring a maid from Philippines)

Malaysian Association of Foreign Maids Agencies (Papa) secretary Foo Yong Hooi said the proposed minimum salary will be a burden to families.

The above facts were taken from NST today.

I have to agree it is burdensome. Wages of Malaysians have not been rising very much over the past years partly due to economic downturn, but the cost of living is constantly on the rise. This is the dilemma faced by Malaysians.

Most household expenses have to be supported by two incomes – gone were the days the husbands were the sole bread winner and the wives stay at home taking care of kids. Not because the wife wanted to climb the corporate ladder although in some cases, that’s the primary reason but in most cases, it’s a purely a matter of survival. So, that leaves most couples no choice but to send their kids to day care centre or having maids to help them out at home.

Although RM800 is the pay, but if include food and other necessities, a family may end up spending more than RM1000 monthly on keeping one maid. It’s tough especially for couples that have to take care of their old folks too.

At the end, I have to conclude that the take home pay of salaried Malaysians are not in line with the current cost of living. The struggle will continue... I better stop now before it gets too depressing.