Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has proposed that the minimum wage for Malaysian skilled workers be set at RM3,500 per month, up from the current RM1,200 or so. He said this was to match the minimum wage of migrant skilled workers in the country as well as to encourage more young Malaysians to take up the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). “We must raise the minimum wage of Malaysian skilled workers to at least match that offered to skilled workers from abroad,” he said to reporters in Kuala Lumpur. He also projected that this minimum wage would rise to RM5,000 by 2030. “Why must we recruit migrant skilled workers for RM3,500? To me, it’s very unfair. That is why I am offering myself to chair and to coordinate the TVET Malaysia Council because I would like to see the products of TVET Malaysia enjoy a higher minimum wage,” he said.
