Poor turnout at May Day rally

The annual May Day rally in Kuala Lumpur was a subdued affair this year, with no more than 200 people taking part.

In contrast, the crowd numbers were estimated at 1,500 last year and 20,000 the year before.

The largest May Day rally in recent memory was held in 2014 following the passage of the Goods and Services Tax Act 2014, where an estimated 50,000 people took part.

This time round, the main theme for the rally, organised by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) was the establishment of a Workers Retrenchment Fund.

The rally goers, largely clad in red, started gathering opposite the Kuala Lumpur train station at around 10am.

Many held placards which read "Hilang Kerja, Pekerja Merana" (Workers are suffering from loss of jobs) which was the theme of this year's rally.

They also chanted "long live the workers", "abolish capitalism" and "we want rights" with emphasis on hardships due to rising cost of living.

Small, but diverse crowd

Among those present were student activist Anis Syafiqah Md Yusof, PSM central committee member S Arutchelvan and Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar.

When met at the tail end of the rally at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jeyakumar said he was satisfied with the turnout this year.

"We are quite happy because the crowd is diverse. A lot of the B40 groups are here," he said in reference to the bottom 40 percent household income group.

"This shows that there is hope for Malaysia," he added.

Commenting further, Jeyakumar noted that the majority of workers are unaware of their role as wealth creators for the country.

"So long as we remain divided by politicians, based on race and religion, the voices of workers will never rise," he stressed.

Rising unemployment

On the Workers Retrenchment Fund, Jeyakumar also said that its mechanism is similar to the government proposed Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS) which was aimed at helping workers who have lost their jobs through financial aid while seeking employment.

PSM labour bureau chairperson Sivaranjani Manickam, meanwhile, cited a parliamentary reply by deputy human resources minister Ismail Abdul Mutallib in November last year, that 31,000 workers were retrenched from between January to September.

From the figure, Sivaranjani said it was estimated that one-third or some 10,000 workers were let go without due compensation as their employers had filed for bankruptcy and were unable to pay wages.

In March this year, Human Resources minister Richard Riot Jaem reportedly said the government has been working on the EIS for three years and it is expected to be tabled in Parliament in June or July this year. -Mkini