PUTRAJAYA would have saved more jobs if it emulated Singapore’s wage subsidy scheme by allocating more funds to aid more people and companies, said an opposition lawmaker. 

DAP’s Ong Kian Ming said the wage subsidy take-up in Malaysia was low as it only targeted specific groups while leaving many small and medium enterprises (SME) to fall through the cracks.

“A closer examination of the labour force statistics indicates that the amount of wage subsidies given were not attractive enough for many SMEs. 

“This programme could have saved more jobs if the amount of subsidy were higher, similar to the amount given in Singapore,” Ong, the Bangi MP, said in a statement today.

Singapore subsidised 75% of wages during the republic’s “circuit breaker” and extended the programme until August 2020. It paid out SG$16 billion (RM48.9 billion) to 2 million workers, out of its approximately 3.8 million workforce.

This meant Singapore subsidised the wages of 53% of its workforce, whereas only 2.6 million or 25% of Malaysia’s workforce received Putrajaya’s wage subsidy, Ong said.

Malaysia spent RM8.97 billion for 311,191 companies as of July 24, according to government figures. However, there were 1.36 million companies registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia as of June 30.

Unlike Singapore’s wage subsidy programme, which sets the amount of aid at 75% of the wage bill, Putrajaya allocated RM1,200 per worker for three months, for companies with fewer than 76 workers.

Ong said most Malaysian companies did not apply for the wage subsidy as they deemed the amount insufficient and were left with little choice but to downsize their operations.

“It is highly likely that the majority of companies which did not apply for the programme probably did so because they had no choice but to reduce the number of their workers during the movement-control order (MCO) period,” Ong said. 

“As a result, the unemployment rate in Singapore went up only marginally from 3.3% in the 1st Quarter of 2020 to 3.9% in the 2nd Quarter of 2020. 

“In comparison, Malaysia’s unemployment rate went up from 3.5% in 1Q 2020 to 5.1% in 2Q 2020,” he added.

Ong also questioned the efficacy of the Perikatan Nasional government’s efforts to save the tourism industry.

With only RM1 billion allocated under the Penjana Tourism Financing, only 10,000 companies stood to benefit from it, assuming an average loan of RM100,000 per company. 

The loan process was also tedious, he added.

The former deputy trade and industries minister urged the government to increase their budget as well as spend more on Malaysians through more efficient means, such as Pakatan Harapan did in its stimulus package in February with vouchers for people to spend on tourism so that the funds would go directly to the tourism sector.

“I have made these points in my parliamentary speech on the bill to increase the debt ceiling to 60% of GDP and to approve RM45 billion worth of Covid-19-related spending. 

“PH is asking for the spending amount to be doubled to RM90 billion in order to save the flagging economy,” Ong said referring to the Pakatan Harapan opposition bloc. – August 21, 2020.