One of the greatest concerns for workers in Malaysia is the 'disappearance' of employment security - the loss of opportunity to secure regular employment until retirement...
Well, the Barisan Nasional, it seems is no more interested in guaranteeing employment security for individual workers - and the BN has not done anything to date to stop the emergence of precarious employment practices - fixed-term employment, the usage of workers without making them employees - i.e. the 'contractor for labour' system..
REGULAR EMPLOYMENT - provided a certain assurance to workers. They could not be simply terminated without a very good reason - be it for a serious employment misconduct, or maybe by reason of retrenchment when their employer reduces their workforce, or maybe even ceases operations totally.
Regular employment also ensured that there will be salary increase the longer you worked. Most Malaysian workers want this 'employment security' - as it also provides them with financial security, which is much needed for the well-being of the worker and their families...
The government encouraged Malaysians to purchase their own homes, and now in some cases, there is also no need for any down payment - you can get a bank loan for 100% of the purchase price. But, this means that workers will need to make monthly bank payments to settle their loan, if they fail to make their monthly payments - well, the Banks will commence legal action, and you not only lose your home but also still be in debt... this is one very important reason why a worker needs 'employment security' in the form of a regular employment...to ensure financial security for the worker and their families...
If workers end up only getting 1 year contractual employment, this means that when the contract period lapses, they may be forced to find a new employment - and, here length of service(tenure) will not matter...last drawn salary will not matter...skills obtained in your last employment will not matter for the chances of getting another new job in the same field is very slim... so, you may end up getting yet another employment, possibly with a lower salary...and, guess what, this new employment may be in some other town...And the cycle continues...salary may stay constant or even reduced as the worker's need for money increases with time brought about by a growing family and also increasing cost of living...
In some countries, government has placed limits on the percentage of 'fixed-term contract employees' that an employer can have, maybe limiting it to 5-10% of the total workforce, thus ensuring the creation and/or maintenance of regular employment opportunities..but not Malaysia.
Now, when it comes to workers on fixed term contracts, many employers choose not to extend the contract - preferring rather to find new workers to do the still existing work that their former worker was doing. Why? Well, to extend the contract of an existing worker may give rise to the presumption that the worker is in fact a 'regular employee', and, of course, the employer will not want to do this...because regular employees have more rights than short-term employees.
SO, WHAT WILL BE THE POLICY OF THE PAS/DAP/PKR/AMANAH/...AND OTHER OPPOSITION PARTIES IF AND WHEN THEY DEFEAT THE BN AND BEGIN GOVERNING MALAYSIA?
* Will they ensure regular employment?
* Will they place limit of the number of non-regular employees at a workplace?
* Will they bring in a law requiring employees to extend the contract if the work the worker was doing still exist?
* Will they put an end to the 'contractor for labour system', which took root in Malaysia around 2005'?
I do not know - and Malaysians do not know... these Opposition parties may have no idea what their position or policy when it comes to this issue. They do not express their position...or the changes they will make, if and when they come into power...
BLIND TRUST THAT THE OPPOSITION WILL DO THE RIGHT THING is certainly not enough anymore for Malaysians in this day and age...
Sadly, all that the Opposition has been able to say is that they will be 'CLEAN, EFFICIENT AND TRUSTWORTHY' - well, that is not enough anymore... They promise justice - but what does that really mean?
People want to know the concrete changes in policy and practice that will be put in place as and when the Opposition comes into power...if they cannot tell us this, well, their chances will be slim...
Well, Sarawak Elections - BN policy was that Peninsular Workers will have a higher Minimum Wage compared to workers in Sabah and Sarawak... well, our Opposition did not make much noise about that - there was no massive campaign by the Opposition for an equal minimum wage for all workers in Malaysia, was there?? [Sadly, in the recent issue that got the attention of the media was the protest that certain Opposition personalities were not allowed entry into Sarawak during the campaign period - what else really?]
Well, we have looked at some matters concerning Worker and Labour issues, what about their policy with regard to other matters - AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION, TAXATION, GLCs? Will they increase the taxes paid by the rich and super rich?
Vague commitment to justice, human rights, equality, etc will not work anymore...we need more detailed commitment...and this time, we need time frames as well...
We all remember the Opposition once promised us Local Council Elections - but then the people were 'betrayed' when the Opposition just stopped pushing for it... They claim that a Federal Law is an hurdle...but then, nothing was stopping them from bringing about greater democracy at other levels of society - kampungs, kampung baru, tamans, etc... Is the promise of 'Local Council Elections' even still there in their more recent Election Manifestos?
o, do tell us now what will change and how fast they will do it??? Vague promises, we do not want - we need specifics..
In the past, we voted for the people who will SPEAK OUT on our behalf our concerns, our anger and our opinions in public ...so, we voted in Opposition members of Parliament who did that ...without fear or favour...in and out of Parliament... we voted for those who will 'monitor' the government and expose wrongdoings...be the 'check and balance' - but these have been a few and remain a few even today - many of our newly elected Opposition Members of Parliament become insignificant after they get voted in ... we just do not hear them even 'speak out' - Why did the Opposition Parties even propose and choose them as candidates in the first place?
Well, simply put, there was a perception that the BN will soon be ousted, so the plan was to put in as many MPs who will be 'loyal' FOLLOWERS who will do as was told by the party leadership - no more was the criteria of choosing the strongest outspoken person with the added ability to identify and expose wrongdoings of the government, and who will have an idea of how things would have been done correctly, if the Opposition had been in government??
Hence, the fight between Opposition parties to get as many seats as possible to contest...and the concern for getting the BEST person who will be a GOOD MP or ADUN takes a backseat...Just Google some of our current Opposition MPs/ADUNs, and you will see that there is hardly any news about them or the issues they raised, or the causes they fought for the people beit in their own constituency or at the national/state level...Mainstream media may not have covered the Opposition, but now we have alternative media as well as even own websites and blogs - and Goggle(and other search engines) will list all that is available online...
So, not only are the people being deprived of the BEST peoples' representative ...but as mentioned earlier, we are just in the dark as to what will really change if the Opposition do come into power...
The tactic of merely highlighting the WRONGS of the BN government may have been sufficient in the past, but is not enough anymore, especially so when the Opposition is looking to win at the State and Federal level and become the next government...
Time has come for the Opposition to tell us concretely what will be changes in policies and practices of governance...then, Malaysians will know and will choose what we want for Malaysia..
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