MEF president Syed Hussain Syed Husman said raising wages alone will not solve the problem of financial constraints that people face.

Recently, complaints about higher vegetable prices surfaced on Twitter. One user said prices of basic necessities were going up but the issue of minimum wage is still not resolved. Another user said a person earning the minimum wage of RM1,200 per month will have to work for 2 hours and 8 minutes just to buy 1kg of cabbage.

However Syed Hussain said it is not feasible to revise minimum wages simply because product and service costs have risen.

He said the government must also establish cost-control structures, such as the Cost Control Council, to keep track of price rises across the country.

According to MEF, costs have risen faster in recent years, and no serious measures have been made to rein in the spiralling costs.

Syed Hussain said the government must first establish an environment that encourages higher productivity in order to avoid the negative effects of increased wage cost, which may lead businesses to downsize.

“Without higher productivity growth and higher value-added output, it is not possible for employers to be able to absorb the cost of paying a living wage,” he told FMT.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress deputy president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani said MTUC had previously proposed that the government increase the minimum wage to RM1,500.

Effendy also said that wage increments can be discussed among employers.

He said the government should do more inspections on rising prices, adding that it was ridiculous for broccoli to reach RM20 per kg.

Effendy urged the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry to regulate inspections on prices.