Pay hike for Malaysia’s ‘lazy’ civil servants sparks discontent, inflation worries
- Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim accused of ignoring the private sector and wooing a key vote bank by increasing government workers’ salaries by more than 13 per cent
- His decision has also revived resentment towards the favouring of the Malay majority at the expense of Malaysia’s other races
At over 1.6 million-strong – or 5 per cent of Malaysia’s 33 million population – the Malaysian civil service is one of the largest in the world and has long been seen as a “safe deposit” of votes for any sitting government and is therefore often the beneficiary of cash handouts.
On Wednesday at the government’s Labour Day celebration in Putrajaya, Anwar vowed an over “13 per cent” pay increase, saying it was long overdue after 12 years of an effective wage freeze for civil service employees.
“This increase will cost the government more than US$2.1 billion,” Anwar said in his announcement. “The amount is big, and this is a decent increase, and among the best in history.”
Though in line with his administration’s goal to raise livelihoods after years of stagnant salaries, the decision was panned by many other Malaysians who accuse the government of failing to drive through a progressive wage policy for the private sector and instead pandering to a difficult but large constituency.
