Letter: Really that bad or an attempt to squeeze cash from taxpayers?

LETTER | I am inspired by Amanda Chong, the chief operating officer of Far Capital Group, who has urged entrepreneurs to look beyond themselves and focus instead on those who are struggling to cope under the movement control order (MCO).

Unfortunately, almost every other employer and business are screaming for more government assistance otherwise they will go bankrupt. I fully appreciate that businesses will be affected, especially micro-businesses and the government, quite rightly, has provided some assistance. However, some of the hyperbole and fear-mongering coming out of employers is regrettable.

There seems to be a massive, coordinated and probably expensive pubic relations campaign ongoing with sob stories broadcast simultaneously to almost every Malaysian with a WhatsApp account.

Basically, employers are demanding more assistance. Some even call for the government to stop all assistance to workers and want subsidies to be paid directly to employers. Some even want to force employees to go for weeks on unpaid leave and want to cut EPF contributions to 5% for one year.

Are things that bad or is it an attempt to squeeze as much money out of taxpayers as possible?

Let me use a real-life example of a company operating a 50-room beachside hotel in Sarawak. The hotel sector is worse hit, this even before the MCO. Revenue from March 15 onwards is zero while revenue from January to March is about 45% down from 2019 figures.

Annual turnover of the hotel is about RM2.5 million and operating expenses is RM1.8 million with a profit before tax and depreciation of RM700,000. Monthly operating surplus is about RM60,000. It has 20 employees.

Staff salaries plus statutory contributions are RM65,000 a month. The 14-days no pay leave would have saved the hotel only RM32,500. That is less than the cost of a Rolex.

The current year accumulated operating surplus would be enough to pay salaries for three months even if they have zero revenue. They continue to pay a full salary. The staff reciprocate by volunteering to do other duties such as maintenance and cleaning.

The hotel is very fortunate that they do not have to service loans for luxury cars or to settle credit card expenses account for directors and owners. In any case, banks have given a 6-month moratorium on loans

It is therefore beyond comprehension to hear claims that one-third of Malaysian companies will run out of cash by mid-April.

It just shows that most owners of the businesses in Malaysia have been taking out cash even before accounts for the year are finalised.

Now they demanding the government to bail them out and to subsidise up to 80 percent of wages and to cut EFF contributions to just 5%. A lot of these businesses are employing three million foreign workers. It is will a travesty if Malaysian taxpayers subsidise the salaries of the millions of foreign workers. Perhaps its time to reduce the number of foreign workers.

All these employer rants remind me of the days of the minimum wage debate when the managing director of a security company claimed, without batting an eyelid, that he cannot afford to pay RM$900 a month to his personal driver to chauffeur him in a company-owned Bentley that cost RM2.5 million.

It is important, therefore, that the government must be able to see the forest for the trees and ensure that only deserving companies receive assistance.

The writer is CEO, Sarawak Bank Employees Union and secretary, Sarawak MTUC.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.