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Malaysia's Deputy Defence Minister on creating better paying jobs

Malaysia's Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong has cited a need to restructure the economy to create better paying jobs, with the aiming of subsequently reducing the country's reliance on cheap unskilled foreign labour, in a Bernama report.

He was speaking at the ‘Ekonomi Rakyat Series #2 : Turmoil in Global Finance: is Malaysia Vulnerable?’, organised by the Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Malaysia (DPMM).

Also, the DAP National Political Education Director, he said the economy is currently a “triangle”, where the bottom (or lower income segment) is huge, while the ideal structure is a “diamond” where the middle is thick and big, reflecting a wider middle income segment.

ALSO READ: 518,600 unemployed in Malaysia as of July 2018

“The concern should not be on the exact minimum wage figure. Instead, it should be about how we use the levers of power and tools of government to create better paying jobs,” he told reporters.

In giving an example, Liew said a job that was well-suited for military veterans was as armed guards, but it currently only pays about RM1,500, and thus becomes the domain of unskilled foreign labour or even illegal foreign workers.

Photo / 123RF

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