Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia:-
The states in Malaysia which are ruled by the People’s Coalition will experience changing rhythm of development for the next five years.
Among the many changes mooted and agreed to is the extension to the number of days of maternity leave. The rest of the country which are still under the National Front will stick to sixty days maternity leave.
The leaders of the five states agreed at a Labour’s Day rally in Kuala Lumpur that maternity leave will be extended by another fifteen days, which adds up to seventy-five days.
While this extension can be implemented immediately in the Civil Service but in the private sector, aggreement by their employers should be sought out.
The Chief Ministers of the five states will meet with representatives from the private sector to seek their approval on that decision.
Khalid Ibrahim, the Chief Minister of Selangor, speaking on another issue felt that ‘minimum salary policy’ should now be implemented. Speaking out at the same rally, he mentioned the figure of RM1,500.00 as the possible minimum salary. Only with this amount can a worker survive in places like Kuala Lumpur, he reiterated.
The other leaders were also not impressed with the Federal Government’s explanation that a ‘minimum wage’ policy is not possible in this weak economic performance. They said that there is no correlation between a minimum wage policy and inflation.
"Many factors are at play here,’ said Khalid.
Khalid Ibrahim was a corporate player and well-known in the corporate world before seriously joining politics.