RM200,000 a month! That's how much Najib's adviser was paid

Muzliza Mustafa Muzliza Mustafa Updated 5 years ago · Published on 12 Jun 2018 7:00AM · 10 Comments

Former leader Najib Razak was magnanimous with his people, including to an adviser whose pay was 10 times that of the prime minister's, to keep them firmly in his corner. – The Malaysian Insight pic, June 12, 2018.

FORMER prime minister Najib Razak was very generous with taxpayers’ money, paying a clutch of advisers in his administration anything between RM70,000 and RM200,000 a month.

The Pakatan Harapan government sifting through classified documents discovered that in one instance, a former minister turned adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office was paid RM200,000 a month – about 10 times the salary of the prime minister.

These well-paid officials have been asked to retire.

The discovery confirms the Najib administration’s habit of paying government officials, advisers and senior executives of government-linked companies exorbitant salaries. They were not above paying themselves well either.

In some ways, it was a quid pro quo arrangement with the high salaries keeping the officials firmly in Najib’s corner as his cheerleaders. 

“Many of them were in the RM70,000-RM200,000 salary bracket. But so far we have discovered only one who took home a salary of RM200,000 a month,” a source told The Malaysian Insight.

“This is almost 10 times what the prime minister earns. Checks are still being carried out.”

It is learnt this senior officer had been appointed head of a unit in the PMO when his tenure as a cabinet minister ended.

“Not only did they enjoy high salaries, they also received many privileges and perks which came with their positions.”

The source said all the Putrajaya-appointed officers have not turned up for work since the 14th general election, when their employer Barisan Nasional lost to PH.

Yet another well remunerated employee was found to be the person in charge of the 1Malaysia branding.

“All these officers are no longer in the employment of the government. Most had vacated their offices immediately upon BN’s defeat.

“They either left on their own without informing us, or were told to leave immediately,” the source said.

Putrajaya is on a mission to curb wastage and leakages after it was learnt the country is RM1 trillion in debt

Among the first to be picked out for trimming by the new dministration were former senior officers who were given high-profile positions or holding ministerial status and diplomatic passports.

Checks had revealed many of these senior civil servants were appointed to the board of government-linked companies, with loyalty more than merit being the chief consideration.

Government officials told The Malaysian Insight these retired civil servants would be issued termination letters or would not have their contracts renewed. – June 12, 2018.

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • So many excesses of the former BN regime being exposed one after another. It's a good thing PH took over to put an end to the wastage.

    Posted 5 years ago by Savari CJ · Reply

  • What do people expect from Bapa "Cash is King" Malaysia?? "1Malaysia" was really "Beli Malaysia"..

    Posted 5 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • Did they pay income tax or also tax free???

    Posted 5 years ago by Kenneth Tan · Reply

  • Can the IRB please follow up on this and stop hassling the little man in the street. Try catching some big fish for a change.

    Posted 5 years ago by Richard Chapbell · Reply

  • Cash is not king! BN lost despite paying exorbitant salaries to sycophants who did absolutely nothing useful to the nation and whose main job was to bootlick their patron. We showed them that the rakyat is the ultimate boss and we are the ones in charge!

    Posted 5 years ago by Chee H · Reply

  • Adviser to PM’s monthly salary was TEN times the PM’s??? The mind boggles!

    Posted 5 years ago by L Tan · Reply

  • Patutlah Tok Jib cakap org Malaysia ramai kaya,

    sering berjalan ke luar negara,

    Mekah Madinah London Paris New York Amsterdam.

    Rupa-rupanya puak-puak dia je yang kenyang pagi petang siang malam

    Posted 5 years ago by Locks seven · Reply

  • Dont be be a "jakun" la! These practise was inherited from Dr.M time it was BN practise throughout their rule. If the PM's salary is only RM20-30,000 a month why would GLC CEOs had higher salaries than the PM? Check the archives (if the records are still around .ISO standard is only 7 years). Dr.M's Science Advisor, that ex-TPM CEO (Sharizat Jalils husband) off hand I can think of were all paid higher than Dr.M's salary plus perks.
    Nothing to get excited about. 20 years ago while I was serving in a Government agency RM100,000 plus salarys for some GLC CEOs are not rare you know. That was 20 years ago. Who was the PM back then?

    Posted 5 years ago by Kakistocracy my · Reply

  • Has our Money PM taken "Cash is king" a bit too far?

    Posted 5 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply

  • Bolehland... Guess how much let ching weird was paid for losing in the Olympic finals

    Posted 5 years ago by Putang Inang · Reply