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Gaji Minima Sabah - Perlukah Dipolitikkan Pembangkang

Saya merujuk kepada pengumuman Perdana Menteri berhubung gaji minima sektor swasta di Sabah.

Selepas mempertimbangkan pandangan Majlis Perundingan Gaji Negara (MPGN) yang mewaili sebahagian besar majikan serta kakitangan di Sabah dan pakar ekonomi termasuk daripada Bank Dunia, kadar RM800 ditetapkan sebagai gaji minima di Sabah.

Seperti dijangka, pembangkang pantas menjadikan isu ini sebagai modal politik. Mereka megkritik kadar gaji minima itu sebagai terlalu rendah, selain menganggapnya tidak adil berikutan kadar berbeza yang ditetapkan di Semenanjung.

Pertamanya, gaji minima bukannya tongkat sakti untuk menyelesaikan segala masalah ekonomi dan cabaran yang dihadapi kakitangan berpendapatan rendah. Kerajaan mempunyai pelbagai kaedah lain dalam membantu mereka, termasuk subsidi mencecah berbilion ringgit, pemberian tunai dan kursus latihan bagi meningkatkan kemahiran masing-masing.

Gaji minimum bukan bertujuan mengubah status golongan berpendapatan rendah kepada kumpulan berpendapatan tinggi. Gaji minima lebih menjurus kepada penanda aras asas supaya gaji ditawarkan tidak kurang daripada kadar ditetapkan kerajaan. Majikan boleh menawarkan gaji lebih tinggi jika berasa pekerja layak menerimanya berdasarkan kelayakan dan kemahiran.

Ada perbezaan besar pendekatan antara Barisan Nasional dan Pakatan Rakyat dalam isu ini. Pakatan Rakyat melihatnya dari pandangan populis dan oleh sebab itu hanya berminat untuk melihatnya dari pespektif pekerja semata-mata (tidak menghairankan kerana pekerja merupakan pengundi teramai). Berbeza dengan kerajaan yang perlu berlaku adil dan bertanggungjawab kepada semua pihak.

In defence of Sabah Minimum Wage

I refer to the recent annoucement by the Prime Minister on the minimum wage for Sabah.


After careful consideration both by the National Wage Consultative Council and by the economic experts including from World Bank, the RM800 amount was decided as minimum wage for the state.
As expected the opposition was quick to turn this into a contentious issue to gain political mileage. They criticised the minimum wage as being too low and also unfair because of the different rate offered in Peninsular Malaysia.


First of all, minimum wage is not a magic wand to solve all economic problems and challenges faced by the lower income society. The government has other tools to help them, which among others, through billions of ringgit of subsidies, direct transfer of cash and training courses to re-skill them.


We must not be misled in thinking that minimum wage is meant to make the poor becoming high income earners overnight. That is never the intention. The minimum wage is a floor benchmark where salary can't go down below the amount decided by the government. This is to ensure employers pay reasonable salary. Of course employers can offer higher if they think the employees deserve it based on their qualification and skill.


There is a big difference between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat on the issue. PR is looking at it from populist view and thus insterested only to look at the employees point of view (where the vote bank is). 

Dr Jeffrey Kitingan belongs in the past while Sabahans want present and future.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan regretted the statement by STAR Sabah chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan with regard to the achievements of the state government.

The facts are that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman’s government has created 80,000 jobs, presented the highest ever state budget of RM4 billion, accumulated state’s cash reserves of more than RM3 billion, presided over unprecedented economic prosperity and was highly acclaimed as prudent manager of the state finances by Auditor General.

The Chief Minister has also received excellent ratings by international rating agencies and Musa’s conservation effort of the state’s natural resources and environment is world renowned, the Kota Belud Member of Parliament said.

“All these while the economy is humming with bigger GDP which churns out higher per capita income of RM17,000,” he said in response to Dr Jeffry’s claims that Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan must have forgotten the numbers and facts which the latter mentioned in his speech during the launch of the Chief Minister’s book recently.

According to Abdul Rahman, Dr Jeffrey, being an opposition leader, had mischievously tried to find one thousand excuses to discredit the good work of the Chief Minister and his government.

“But a true measure of people’s acceptance of a politician is when the politician faces the true test, winning the voters’ confidence in elections and the indisputable fact is that the rakyat have given the Chief Minister huge thumbs up by giving him massive landslide majority, not just once but twice, in 2004 and 2008 elections.

“If that is not resounding endorsement of the Chief Minister’s leadership, I don’t know what else does. Of all people, Dr Jeffrey should understand the importance of people’s support to legitimize oneself as a politician,” he said.

“With so many election defeats, what would that say about one’s credibility and legitimacy?

“In life, there is a time for everything and clearly Dr Jeffrey belongs in the past. The people of Sabah are interested in the present and in the future and this Chief Minister has successfully delivered the present and strategically mapped out the future.

“The future of all Sabahans irrespective of race and religion is indeed in the good hands of BN government,” he stressed.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/04/03/jeffreys-bid-to-discredit-musa-mischievous/#ixzz1qwAFs2S9

Rakaman Bicara Rakyat-2

Rakaman Debat Bicara Rakyat. Tajuk: Politik Baru. Panel: Yb Dato Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Ahli Parlimen Kota Belud, Yb Tian Chua, Ahli Parlimen Batu dan Saudara Lokman Adam, Panel Pemikir JASA. - Bahagian 2.

Rakaman Bicara Rakyat-1

Rakaman Debat Bicara Rakyat. Tajuk: Politik Baru. Panel: Yb Dato Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Ahli Parlimen Kota Belud, Yb Tian Chua, Ahli Parlimen Batu dan Saudara Lokman Adam, Panel Pemikir JASA. - Bahagian 1.

Pandangan Saya Mengenai Janji Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim Terhadap Kenaikan Royalti Minyak (versi Bahasa Melayu)

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dilapor akan menaikkan royalti minyak Sabah daripada 5% kepada 20%.

Enggan mengalah, pemimpin pembangkang lain seperti Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan pula menjanjikan 50%.  Bagaimanapun, untuk menzahirkannya, Dr Jeffrey perlu bergantung kepada sokongan Anwar jika dan apabila beliau menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia.

Sebagai Ahli Parlimen dari Sabah, saya tidak mempunyai alasan untuk menolak cadangan itu kerana Anwar mahu memberi lebih banyak dana buat Sabah. Tetapi benarkah begitu?

Malangnya, saya menyedari betapa tidak telusnya Datuk Seri Anwar dengan cadangan menambah royalti minyak  untuk Sabah.

Ketika persidangan Dewan Rakyat tahun lalu, saya bertanya jika Anwar menambah royalti minyak Sabah kepada 20%,  apakah beliau boleh menjamin untuk tidak mengurangkan peratusan peruntukan kepada Sabah menerusi Belanjawan 2013 atau Rancangan Malaysia Kesebelas (RMKe-11) jika pembangkang menawan Putrajaya?

Saya mengingatkan pembangkang bahawa Sabah menerima peruntukan terbesar Kerajaan Pusat menerusi Rancangan Malaysia dan Belanjawan tahunan secara konsisten. Sebagai contoh, Sabah menerima RM20.3 bilion sepanjang pelaksanaan RMKe-9 daripada peruntukan keseluruhan  RM230 bilion, selain mendapat RM10.7 bilion daripada RM98.5 bilion menerusi Pelan Pusingan Pertama RMKe-10. Kedua-duanya adalah peratusan tinggi buat Sabah.

Kebimbangan saya ialah, walaupun Anwar mahu menaikkan royalti minyak, tiada jaminan  peruntukan Sabah tidak akan dikurangkan, baik menerusi Belanjawan 2013 mahu pun RMKe-11 nanti.

Jika itu keadaannya, dana Sabah tidak akan berubah atau berkemungkinan menjadi lebih teruk jika Anwar mengurangkan peruntukan tahunan Kerajaan Pusat kepada Sabah! Sebab itulah saya meminta jaminan tetapi tiada seorang pun Ahli Parlimen pembangkang bangun untuk menjawab persoalan yang saya bangkitkan.

Untuk makluman, kenaikan royalti bagi Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu dan Kelantan dianggar berjumlah melebihi RM10 bilion setahun  (harus diingat Sarawak dan Terengganu menghasilkan lebih banyak minyak berbanding Sabah).

Anwar menyedari hakikat bahawa tambahan lebih RM10 bilion yang akan diberi kepada empat negeri pengeluar minyak ini  bermakna RM10 bilion perlu diambil daripada peruntukan kerajaan pusat kepada negeri yang tidak menghasilkan minyak di Semenanjung.

Saya tidak fikir Anwar berani memberitahu rakyat negeri berkenaan: "Maaf, saya terpaksa mengurangkan  peruntukan anda kerana perlu memberi lebih RM10 bilion kepada Terengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak dan Sabah!”. Sudah tentu, rakyat di negeri tersebut akan menolaknya. Saya jangkakan Anwar tidak boleh menerima kenyataan itu kerana beliau sangat memerlukan  undi mereka untuk menawan Putrajaya.

Besar kemungkinan Sabah akan menikmati royalti minyak lebih besar tetapi di akhirnya, ia juga mungkin mendapat peruntukan lebih sedikit daripada Kerajaan Pusat di bawah pemerintahan Anwar sebagai Perdana Menteri. Perlu diingat bahawa Anwar sebagai Perdana Menteri mempunyai kuasa mutlak menentukan berapa dan siapa yang akan dapat lebih atau kurang peruntukan Kerajaan Pusat.

Setakat ini, beliau belum memberi jaminan ia tidak akan berlaku ke atas Sabah.

Anda dan saya tahu bahawa setiap ringgit yang diberi kepada Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu dan Kelantan mesti ada puncanya kerana duit tidak akan jatuh dari langit.

Untuk itu, beberapa negeri mesti mengorbankan bahagian mereka dalam Belanjawan Pusat. Malah, saya jangkakan sesetengah projek di Semenanjung terpaksa dibatalkan. Soalnya siapa dan apa yang perlu dikorbankan?

Atau ada juga kemungkinan Anwar akan mengurangkan perbelanjaan dalam aspek keselamatan, kesihatan, pendidikan,  infrastuktur, kemudahan awal, sosial di seluruh negara berikutan perlu membelanjakan lebih untuk royalti minyak.

Anwar mesti menjawab semua persoalan rumit ini supaya difahami dan dapat meyakinkan rakyat.

Harus juga diingat, Anwar mahu mengekalkan subsidi, enggan menaikkan cukai, menentang peningkatan hutang kerajaan dan sekarang ini bercadang mahu menambah royalti. Jadi bagaimana beliau mahu melakukan semua ini dari segi keupayaan kewangan?

Lagipun, rakyat Sabah masih mengingati bagaimana Anwar tegas menolak permohonan demi permohonan Parti  Bersatu Sabah (PBS) untuk menambah royalti minyak ketika menjadi Menteri Kewangan dan Timbalan Perdana  Menteri. Apakah kini beliau bersedia untuk meminta maaf atas "kesilapan" itu?

Pakatan Rakyat turut menegaskan "penjimatan" atau "kutipan" berjumlah berbilion ringgit hasil usaha pembasmian  rasuah dan rundingan semula perjanjian berat sebelah akan digunakan bagi membiayai pertambahan royalti.

Sebagai Ahli Jawatankuasa Khas Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia  (SPRM), saya harap mereka berjaya. Sebarang usaha membasmi rasuah mesti disokong dan digalakkan. Saya juga  yakin rakyat Sabah berkongsi pandangan itu.

Bagaimanapun, kebimbangan saya bukan berpusat terhadap usaha membasmi rasuah. Ia lebih kepada rasional di  sebalik hasrat Anwar untuk menjadikan "penjimatan daripada pembasmian kemiskinan dan rundingan  semula perjanjian berat sebelah" sebagai sebahagian daripada unjuran pendapatan kerajaan pimpinannya.

Persoalannya ialah dapatkah Anwar membayangkan jumlah penjimatan tahunan hasil usaha anti-rasuah? Bolehkah beliau membuat anggaran perolehan sedemikian dengan tepat? Apakah wajar untuk menggunakan angka berkenaan bagi  merangka Belanjawan Pusat?

Bolehkan Datuk Seri Anwar memaksa syarikat Penjana Tenaga Bebas (IPP) dan pemegang konsesi tol lebuhraya  untuk merunding semula perjanjian sedia ada sebaik Anwar mengangkat sumpah sebagai Perdana Menteri?  Atau mungkinkah beliau berdepan tentangan berpanjangan dan terus-menerus dari syarikat-syarikat berkenaan  yang mungkin mengambil masa bertahun-tahun untuk diselesaikan?

Jika ya, apakah anggaran perolehan Belanjawan akan berkurangan, sekali gus menjejaskan rancangan perbelanjaan termasuk menambah peratusan royalti?

Sejujurnya, saya tidak pernah lihat mana-mana kerajaan di dunia ini menggunakan anggaran "penjimatan daripada  rasuah" sebagai asas penyediaan Belanjawan. Pendekatan itu sangat tidak bertanggungjawab manakala Belanjawan pula akan menjadi huru-hara.

Sepatutnya sebarang "penjimatan" berkaitan usaha membasmi rasuah perlu dilihat sebagai perolehan "bonus", dan tidak  sepatutnya dimasukkan dalam unjuran pendapatan belanjawan kerajaan. Justeru, sudah pasti wujud kebimbangan apabila Datuk Seri Anwar mengatakan akan membiayai pertambahan royalti  daripada "penjimatan pembasmian rasuah".

Pada pendapat saya, Anwar mempunyai dua pilihan. Yang pertama, beliau akan  mengurangkan peruntukan bagi negeri bukan pengeluar minyak (Johor, Melaka,  Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perlis dan Wilayah Persekutuan).

Pilihan kedua, beliau memotong peruntukan sektor kritikal seperti pendidikan, infrastruktur luar bandar,  kesihatan dan keselamatan di seluruh negara.

Apa pun pilihan Anwar, negeri bukan pengeluar minyak dan rakyat Malaysia secara amnya, perlu mdiberitahu oleh beliau mengenai keadaan sebenar. Saya kira, persidangan Dewan Rakyat bulan depan adalah medan terbaik untuk beliau membuat penjelasan kepada  seluruh negara. Jika beliau gagal menyentuh perkara itu, saya sendiri akan melontarkan persoalan ini terus kepadanya.

Sesungguhnya, saya tidak mahu orang Sabah terjebak hanya kerana Anwar menjanjikan bulan dan bintang. 

My Notes On Anwar Ibrahim's Promise Of 20% Oil Royalty To Sabah

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been quoted that he would increase Sabah oil royalty from 5% to 20%.

Other opposition leaders like Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan went even further by promising 50%. But in order to achieve this, Dr Jeffrey has to depend on Anwar's support if and when he becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

As an MP from Sabah, I do not have any reason to reject such proposal. After all, Anwar wants to give more funds to Sabah. Or is it?

Unfortunately, I am painfully aware that Anwar has not been fully forthcoming in his proposal to increase oil royalty for Sabah.

Last year, in Parliament, I posed a question that if Anwar increased Sabah’s royalty to 20%, could he guarantee that he would not reduce Sabah’s existing percentage of allocation in his federal budget for 2013 or in the Eleventh Malaysia Plan?

I reminded the opposition that Sabah had been consistently given biggest percentage of allocation by the federal government both in the Malaysia Plans and its annual budget.

For example Sabah received RM20.3bil out of RM230bil in RMK9 and in First Rolling Plan of RMK10, Sabah received RM10.7bil out of RM98.5bil.

My concern is, while Anwar may increase Sabah’s share of the oil royalty, there is no guarantee he may not reduce Sabah allocation in his federal budget 2013 or the 11th Malaysia Plan.

If that is the case, Sabah coffers may end up be the same or even worse off! That is why I asked for a guarantee. None of the opposition MP at that time stood up to reply to my argument.

Increase in royalty for Sabah, Sarawak, Trengganu and Kelantan would easily amount to more than RM10bil a year. (bear in mind Sarawak and Trengganu produce more oil than Sabah).

Anwar knows very well that the additional of  more than RM10bil given to the four oil producing states means RM10bil have to be taken away from the budget of non-oil producing states in West Malaysia.

I do not think Anwar dares to say to the people from the non-oil producing states, “I am sorry, I have to cut your allocation because I need to give more than RM10bil to Trengganu, Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah!”.

The people there will reject him and this is not acceptable to him since he needs their votes desperately to win Putrajaya.

It is then very likely that Sabah may be getting higher oil royalty but in the end will get lower overall funds from Federal Government under Anwar's Prime Ministership.

So far he has not given Sabahans a guarantee that this will not happen! 

You and me know that for every ringgit given to Sabah, Sarawak, Trengganu and Kelantan, that one ringgit must come from somewhere.

The money does not fall from the sky.

Some states must be willing to sacrifice their portion of the federal budget. Some projects in West Malaysia must be cancelled. The question is who and what needs to be sacrificed?

Or will Anwar spend less on security, health, education, infrastructure, public utilities, social etc given the fact he has to spend more on royalty?

Anwar must answer these tough questions so that people understand and convinced.

Remember, Anwar wants to maintain subsidies, refuses to increase taxes, is against higher government’s debt and proposes spending more on royalties. How in the world is he going to juggle these finances?

And Sabahans still remember how Anwar as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister consistently refused PBS’ request for higher royalty. Will he now apologize for his "misguided" action?

Pakatan Rakyat has also said that "savings" or "proceeds" in billions of ringgit from their anti-corruption drive and renegotiation loop sided deals will be used to finance the increase in royalty.

As someone who sits in MACC committee, I hope they will succeed. Any effort to eradicate corruption must be supported and encouraged. I am sure Sabahans share the same view as mine.

But my concern is not about the effort to check corruption. It is more about Anwar’s rationale to include  “savings from corruption eradication and renegotiating loop sided deals” as part of his government’s revenue.

Can Anwar estimate how much yearly savings he gets from anti-corruption effort? Can he comfortably project such revenue with a high level of accuracy? Would it be sensible to use the figure to plan his national budget?

Can Anwar force those IPPs and highway toll concessionaires to renegotiate their agreements immediately after he swears in as Prime Minister? Or will he face prolonged and protracted battle which could take years to settle?

If yes, will his budget revenue projections fall short and hence disturb his spending plans including payment of additional royalty?

To be honest, I have never heard any government around the world using projected "savings from corruption" as the basis of preparing its national budget. That is utterly irresponsible. The budget will be in a mess.

Any "savings" due to anti corruption drive should be construed as "bonus" revenue, and should not be included in the estimation of government's budget revenue.

So when Anwar says he will finance the royalty increase from "corruption eradication savings", one has to be worried.

My view is if Anwar intends to stick to his promise, he has no choice but to eventually cut allocations meant for the non-oil producing states (Johor, Pahang, Melaka, N. Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Penang, Perlis and Wilayah Persekutuan). This is a very possible scenario!

Of course, the other alternative is to cut allocations to critical sectors like education, rural infrastructure, health and security across the board, which is equally a disastrous scenario.

Either way, the non-oil producing states and Malaysians in general, deserve to  know the facts. The next sitting of Parliament in March will be the best avenue for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to clarify to the nation. 


Failing which, I will be asking him directly because I do not want my fellow Sabahans to fall for trickery and deceptive political promise.