Exit stage left, Syed Saddiq, Food Panda row not your show

Updated 6 years ago · Published on 4 Oct 2019 5:10PM · 7 Comments

I WORKED briefly as a rider for Food Panda in Johor Baru. I have friends who works for Grab Food.

Please allow me to weigh in on the unhappiness of Food Panda riders that had been in the news of late.

In any endeavour, humans are hardwired to maximise gain for minimum effort. This is at the heart of the clash between Food Panda and its riders.

The company wants to maximise profits by paying less, while riders want to maximise income by doing less.

I will spare the technical details but, before this, the nature of the payment scheme in Food Panda makes it easier for riders to earn money.

Any disruption that leads to reduced income will naturally spark protest.

What then should the government do about it? Honestly, nothing. We live in a free market economy.

That means to say, market forces should be the key determinant in such things.

If Food Panda workers are not happy with the wages, they should just quit and join a competitor.

If the exodus is large enough, surely Food Panda will sit up and do something about it, whether to improve on payment scheme, or file for bankruptcy. Eventually, water will find its own balance.

If the government were to put its finger in every wage dispute, then precious resources will be wasted on employer-employee conflict resolution.

This will only lead to inefficiency and artificial wages that impede our competitiveness.

The thing is, we all know that this has been turned into a political issue.

Youth and Sports Minister Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman seems keen to score brownie points, so much so he’s willing to tamper with market forces.

We all know that many of the aggrieved riders are from one community group and a sizable come from Johor, from where the minister also hails.

Besides, the minister should just let the Human Resources Ministry handle this dispute.

Rightfully, this is a labour issue and its M. Kula Segaran has swiftly called for a meeting with top Food Panda bosses to find an amicable solution.

The government is doing the right thing trying to draw a comprehensive framework to protect the interests of gig economy workers.

In case Syed Saddiq forgot, an important aspect of the gig economy is the importance of market forces.

We want a robust workforce in the gig economy, not one that shouts for government intervention or expects handouts at every opportunity.

Don’t sacrifice our competitiveness on the altar of political expediency.

The minister of youth and sports should just back off from labour matters to score political points at the expense of our economic well-being.

Perhaps, he can then focus on his lofty but yet-to-take-off idea of turning Malaysia into an e-sport hub.

* Loft reads The Malaysian Insight

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.

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Comments

  • This is a good opinion piece. The Govt should just formulate a robust framework of regulations and allow the market forces drive the economy. I am sure YB Syed Saddiq meant well but we should let the market dictate

    Posted 6 years ago by Super Duper · Reply

  • " ..... market forces should be the key determinant in such things..... lead to inefficiency and artificial wages that impede our competitiveness. .........."

    Precisely. Through tampering and bastardizing market forces and free market fundamentals by Mahathir's NEP and "Ketuanan" Agenda eventually led to Malaysia's RM 1 trillion debt, corruption, cronyism, nepotism, etc, etc.

    This "haven't worked a single day in his life" MP is ignorant of sound free market economics and will repeat the same mistakes.

    Is it not a coincidence they came from the same racist political party which put race and religion above all else and NOT running the country based on correct fundamentals and policies (in all aspects) will ruin Malaysia?

    Posted 6 years ago by Malaysian First · Reply

  • This opinion piece sums up the issues precisely and succinctly. The boy minister in his first job has been promoted way beyond his competentcy. Please go back to school.

    Posted 6 years ago by Yoon Kok · Reply

  • The riders are refusing the opportunity to be able to earn more as they work harder. They want the easy way out with a rm4 flat per hour. If kula cant resolve this to their favour... ini salah DAP. The truth is.. those riders are just plain lazy.

    Posted 6 years ago by Mo Salleh · Reply

  • As we r running business, we know that how to make things work and creating profit through a sustainable way. The best thing, political should not be interfere nor scoring some politic points.

    Posted 6 years ago by Chong Choong Kian · Reply

  • The writer is right. Is Saddiq going to keep stepping in when staff of other companies start making demands on their employers? It was a stupid move on his part..

    Posted 6 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • the child ''minister'' needs to mature...wrong choice by Mahathir.

    Posted 6 years ago by Lipdah Lia · Reply