Let the class war begin

 

And why are the Chinese businessmen so unhappy? It was we in the opposition who have been fighting for a minimum wage since more than a decade ago. It is we who have been pressuring the Barisan Nasional government to implement a minimum wage policy. If Pakatan Rakyat comes to power I am hoping that the minimum wage will be increased a further 50% from what it is now.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

One thing that I have been fighting for over more than a decade since 1999 is for Malaysia to implement a minimum wage policy like here in the UK. That was one of the points in The People’s Declaration that we launched in early 2008 plus for the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) that was launched in late 2010.

As far as I am concerned, that has never changed.

I also once wrote that if May 13 Version 2.0 does hit Malaysia, it is not going to beà la May 13 of 1969. This time it is going to be a clash between the haves and the haves-not, basically a class war.

I remember writing about His Highness the Sultan of Selangor summoning me to the Palace soon after my release from Internal Security Act (ISA) detention in June 2001. His Highness was concerned that I was ‘rampaging in the streets’ and involved in Reformasi demonstrations and getting arrested and jailed. His Highness was a bit puzzled about what I was trying to achieve and what it is that I am aggrieved about.

His Highness stated that he is worried if I continued like this I would again get detained and the Palace is powerless to do anything about it and can’t help me. Hence is it worth all the trouble of getting arrested or detained for a cause, which, His Highness said, he did not quite understand?

I then spent the next two hours, very politely but with great passion, in briefing His Highness about where I was coming from and where I was headed. I not only tried to help His Highness understand my cause but also why such a cause is necessary. I admit that in my passion I may have exceeded what protocol allows -- in that I raised my voice and flung my arms all over the place while pointing at His Highness to emphasis my point.

On hindsight I might have been a bit biadap (insolent), though there was no such intention other than I ‘lost myself’ in my passion. His Highness, however, remained calm and collected and did not appear perturbed about the ‘high drama’ he was witnessing.

At the end of that session, His Highness said he understood what I was saying and was trying to do but the question still remains: is it worth getting arrested for?

I closed that ‘debate’ by responding: Tuanku, someone has to do it. This is a rakyat’s fight. Do we, the members of the royal family, just stand aside and not get involved? If we do not support the rakyat then what is the purpose of our existence? How do we justify the existence of the Monarchy if the Monarchy serves no purpose? At least some of us from the royal family need to go down to the streets and, shoulder-to-shoulder with the rakyat, fight together with them. How can we expect the rakyat to love the Monarchy if the Monarchy does not love the rakyat?

His Highness pondered on that ‘closing statement’ for quite a while and I must admit I found the silence deafening. Finally, His Highness nodded, a sign of his approval, and just said: okay, but try to stay out of jail.

Of course I did not and after that I was arrested a few more times, as what His Highness feared would happen.

Through all that time, amongst the various issues that we were fighting for was for Malaysia to impose a minimum wage. Ten years ago we were talking about a figure of at least RM1,000-1,200 a month. Today I suppose that amount would no longer be sufficient because for a family of five or six to live a decent life, especially in the urban areas, you would need a household income of at least RM2,000-3,000 a month.

RM1,000-1,200 a month is only RM250-300 a week or RM6.25-7.50 an hour on a 40-hour working week. That is about what we earn as minimum wage here in the UK, about 6-7 pounds an hour (although the Chinese establishments in Chinatown sometimes pay as low as 5 pounds an hour).

Now, in the UK, if you earn 6-7 pounds an hour, and if you work 40 hours a week, you take home 240-280 pounds before tax. If you work 10 hours a day, say from 10am to 8pm, then you take home 300-350 pounds a week before tax. So you can earn roughly 1,000-1,400 pounds a month before tax, which is 20%.

Note, however, when you are paid weekly, you earn 13 months a year salary in the UK (meaning 52 weeks) and not just 12 months a year like in Malaysia (equivalent to only 48 weeks).

Now, what can you do with a net after-tax pay of 1,000 pounds a month? You can buy a new car for about 10,000-15,000 pounds, depending on the make and model. You can buy an apartment for less than 100,000 pounds or a house for slightly over 100,000, if outside London, of course.

However, with the RM1,000 you earn in Kuala Lumpur, can you but a new car for RM15,000 and a house or apartment for RM100,000? You need RM500 to fill up your shopping cart in KL while in the UK it is only 80-100 pounds.

Hence your RM1,000 in KL is pittance compared to the 1,000 pounds in the UK. Hence also, even if you are paid a minimum wage of RM7.50 per hour or RM1,000-1,200 per month in Malaysia, you are still very poor compared to the 7 pounds per hour or 1,000 pounds per month we earn in the UK.

Getting the Malaysian government to agree to a minimum wage was an uphill battle as it is. Now the Chinese businessmen are against it (read about it here). And the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ACCIM) is not happy with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak because of this.

So what do these Chinese businessmen want? They want Malaysians to continue earning RM800 a month, is it? What can you do with RM800 a month? For that matter, what can you do with RM1,200 a month? You can’t even do much with RM2,000 a month.

And why are the Chinese businessmen so unhappy? It was we in the opposition who have been fighting for a minimum wage since more than a decade ago. It is we who have been pressuring the Barisan Nasional government to implement a minimum wage policy. If Pakatan Rakyat comes to power I am hoping that the minimum wage will be increased a further 50% from what it is now.

Do I take it that these Chinese businessmen will now not support Pakatan Rakyat? Do I take it that making more money by keeping wages low is more important than good governance, transparency, accountability, etc?

What more can I say about these Chinese capitalists and blood-sucking leeches? Am I right or am I right about the Chinese? At the end of the day it is all about money.