YOURSAY | ‘Pay frontliners more, but those sitting at home should sacrifice like many other M’sians.’

Cuepacs regrets 'ill-timed' idea by Mydin MD to cut civil servant salaries

Anonymous_61741578627189265: With oil prices so low, it will be very tough for the government to achieve its revenue target.

With almost 40 percent of operating expenses going into emoluments and pension and another 30 percent into debt servicing, there will be very little left for the government machinery to operate.

In essence, the operations of the government will be seriously curtailed or reduced, making some of the 1.6 million civil servants almost redundant. Budget cuts to social services like health and welfare will seriously affect the people while defence will have to bear the big brunt of the budget cut.

Borrowing money to pay operating expenses will be catastrophic for the future economy. I think in times like this where every sector of the economy, private and public is badly affected, everyone should chip in and sacrifice for the country.

What Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin said was bold and unprecedented. Good thing too that it came from a Muslim. Imagine if say, DAP had made such proposal, you can definitely expect accusations of anti-Islam.

That said, to cut civil servants pay across the board no matter what the circumstances will be a monumental task and no sane politicians will want to undertake this as it risks losing their vote bank.

Anonymous_59061579074512319: The Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) is being counterproductive.

The majority of civil servants earning RM3,000 and above are actually getting better income during this movement control order (MCO), and the best part is, without having to go to work.

What the Mydin chief is suggesting is a fair assessment. Consider those not working in the government, especially the daily wage earners. They are the ones that need most assistance from the government.

Therefore, those brothers and sisters in the government who get more than RM3,000 (as an example only), please make some sacrifices.

After all, you are staying at home and are fully paid, and you save on transportation costs and whatnot. For example, those earning RM3,000-RM4,000 can take a five percent cut, RM4,000-RM5,000 (10 percent cut) and above RM20,000 (50 percent cut). Can?

The Analyser: It’s the responsibility of every Malaysian to do whatever he/she can do to survive this crisis. Most people’s contribution will be to self-isolate, to practice good hygiene and to survive on their own assets.

But with public servants, their role is much more significant. For years, they have been dependent on the government for their income. Whether they earned it or not is irrelevant.

What is relevant is that the government has a huge burden to carry and whether these public servants like it or not, they must carry part of that burden. In much the same way as employers should carry the burden of caring for immigrant workers.

With the exception of essential public servants, there is absolutely no reason why everyone on the government payroll should not be asked to survive at the same level as the unemployed and those in the B40 (bottom 40 percent) group.

For the first time in this nation’s history, let’s act like we are Malaysians and accept we have a joint responsibility to get through this crisis. Cuepacs president Adnan Mat is clearly not thinking like a Malaysian.

Anonymous_1544340881: I think any person not connected to the civil service directly or indirectly welcomes the suggestion that non-frontliner civil servants take a pay cut. In fact, I would even say withdraw the bonus RM500 paid too.

As for them spending 80 percent of their income to pay off mortgages and car loans, no wonder the country is in a mess with such irresponsible spendthrift behaviour. They are obviously living beyond their means.

Ram14: Most of the civil servants are lowly paid. It will be stupid to cut their salaries.

As for companies like Mydin, the owners enriched themselves during good times, and during bad times, they want to enrich themselves further by retrenching and cutting salaries.

Anakraja: What Ameer said is not welcome. Has Ameer done any food distribution to areas that need provisions?

Indeed, giving RM500 to civil servants does not help much now. Just check the prices of fresh vegetables which have gone up. In some areas, there are no vegetables for sale. Those who need to buy have to go to some lengths to get fresh vegetables.

Perak Boleh: @Anakraja, what about those being laid off by the private sector or having to take unpaid leave?

And what about the hawkers, pasar malam/pasar tani traders, goreng pisang and food stall operators, retail shops selling non-essential goods, workshops and the owners of small- and medium-sized factories with zero income?

Just be thankful that civil servants are getting full pay and bonus without the need to work.

Anonymous_1372516784: I don't see Ameer’s suggestion as being ill-timed. It is a reasonable suggestion as many private companies are cutting salaries. Why should civil servants be an exception?

Maybe the frontliners like the police, army and medical workers can be excluded, but not the office-based civil servants. Let's be fair to all.

Mamadias: Yes, not all public servants are frontliners. Only the uniformed units plus Health Ministry medical workers are the real frontliners.

Perhaps the RM3,000 threshold is a bit low, so maybe those earning above RM5,000 should cut a bit from their allowance as these senior civil servants have a lot of allowances that they can sacrifice.

Why should our tax dollars go into paying these unproductive ones? I don't mind paying the frontliners a bit more of allowances because they are really risking their lives for us, and they are working around the clock while many civil servants are sleeping at home.

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