Yoursay: Income supplement is like giving pocket money to adult children

YOURSAY | ‘Give the money to the bread-winners in the B40 group instead.’

Income supplement proposal within gov't's means - Guan Eng

Fair Play: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, instead of finding the cure, you are just treating the symptoms. Malaysia is a low-income nation because there is the Bottom 40 (B40), meaning 40 percent of all households are low-wage earners.

Your proposal is to address the issue of foreigners occupying certain jobs as locals are unwilling to take them up because of low wages as Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said, only encourages the locals to depend on the government.

At best, this proposal is yet another strategy to widen the base of the crutch mentality. At worst, Malaysia will end up as the first ‘Fourth World’ nation.

Clearwater: Income supplement is like papa still giving pocket money when children have graduated and are expected to earn their keep. Is this the new Malaysia, the land of subsidies and discounts?

In the old Malaysia of the 1970s to 1990s, one was expected to give pocket money to mama when you start work, no matter how little you earned. You go stingy on yourself if you don't have enough.

Prudent: Bad move. These are young people and they could hack it out on low salaries while they gain experience to upgrade their skills.

Give the money to the bread-winners in the B40 group instead. Do not spoil the young.

Fateh: Government giving free handouts is definitely a bad decision. Most unemployed graduates are either choosy with jobs or have gotten a degree that is worth nothing.

The government should instead send all these inexperienced, no-skill graduates for on-the-job training. Any timeframe for helping out the young graduates who are in abundance?

The Analyser: Whatever you care to call it, this subsidy might well be within the Finance Ministry’s resources to support it

But where does it sit within the government’s long-term plans to address the issues of low income, youth unemployment, university outputs, et cetera? It sits nowhere because Pakatan Harapan has no long-term plans for anything.

This is classic Guan Eng. Because he has no idea of where he is headed, he lurches from one whacko idea to the next, making ineffectual and irrational decisions along the way, and basically wasting money.

Fairplayer: Just create more jobs for the young.

The government can help struggling businesses by giving loans to jack up their businesses, and these loans must be paid back within a reasonable timeframe through interest-free instalments.

Interest-free microloans can also be made available to enterprising youths and struggling mothers or fathers. Again, these loans must be paid back within a certain timeframe, or earlier.

Absolutely no free money, please! Monthly food coupons of RM50 per person for the B40 may be a good start for all B40 families who are Malaysians.

Kahlil Gibran: We need to upgrade our blue-collar skills, so it is time we professionalise these skills by making it mandatory to either have a certificate or a diploma to do such jobs.

Generally, in most of the houses in housing projects, the work is done by foreign workers and are very shoddy. The finish is very crude.

Stop all this quota nonsense - in the case of electricians, to be a full charge hand you need to train with TNB.

In countries like Japan and Australia, blue-collar skills are very well-paid jobs and much sought after.

Captain Marvel: Whether supplement or subsidy, the recipient must show that they do their part to earn it. They should not just get paid to do nothing (buta-buta dapat).

Anthony Chan: This not about job creation. It is about low-paying jobs that are abundant but are taken by foreign workers.

During my younger days, most shop assistants were locals, but now many are foreign workers. The same goes for security guards, barbers, construction workers, et cetera.

Sarawakian: I fully support the move if it is a short-term arrangement for the employees.

My company will hire fresh graduates as interns if paid for by the government, and the probation period would be as long as the period the government subsidises the salary.

After the probation period, we will decide to continue to employ or to kick out; but at least the fresh graduate gets a chance at employment.

Gaji Buta: Why not just increase the pay scale for fresh graduates in civil service? The private sector will have to keep up or die a natural death.

There is no need to spend taxpayer money to help the private sector which we all know is run by greedy and selfish employers.

Amura: The idea of a salary top-up or supplement is a good idea. Harapan should pursue it, only if undesirable jobs could be filled by locals.

I don't know the mechanism and the threshold salary to qualify. Personally, I would prefer providing income tax relief rather than supplement as it just creates another perception of throwing money around without any statutory provision.

My concern is having too many benefits such as Cost of Living Aid duplicates, which do not come under the purview of the parliament.

If this supplement is a long-term solution, then it should become statutory. Create a welfare state if necessary.

Anonymous_1529214566: Increase graduate’s income today to buy a new handphone, encourage graduates not to repay National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) repayments incurred yesterday and hoping the government (who are desperate for votes) will cancel PTPTN loan tomorrow – this is Guan Eng’s version of BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia).

Open Mind: The saying goes that God will help those who help themselves, meaning the salary supplement proposal by the government must be applicable to those who are willing to work and not for freeloaders.

The government must make this very clear to the young graduates.

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