Stop being in denial, pay gap causes graft, Perak sultan tells Putrajaya
Muzliza Mustafa, The Malaysian Insider
Putrajaya must stop being in denial about wealth inequality and realise that hardship and poverty are also fuelling corruption, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, said today.
In a speech, he cited figures that showed the low earnings of a vast majority of households and noted that those struggling to make ends meet were exposed to petty corruption.
The Sultan’s speech at the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) 47th Anniversary event at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today follows debate over Putrajaya’s recent announcement that average household incomes have surpassed RM5,900.
While noting that corruption was present among high-ranking officials in public and private sectors due to greed, the sultan mentioned the struggle of those in the lower-income groups who wanted to avoid corruption by taking up second jobs to sustain their families.
This will eventually affect their productivity at their workplace, he added.
“This is the reality. The number of them will increase if the effective formulas to address housing, transportation and medical assistance are not introduced. The country has to wake up and realise what is happening.”
He cited the New Economic Model report which showed that 80% of households earned less than RM5,000 a month, and of this, 40% were earning less than RM2,000 a month.
The data also showed that 78.6% of Employees Provident Fund account holders were those earning less than RM3,000 a month.
While investment power among majority Bumiputera were manifested in the Amanah Saham Bumiputera, 75% of account holders only had an average of RM611 in savings.
Sultan Nazrin said the data was worrying given Putrajaya’s efforts to be a high-income nation with a target of RM48,000 income per capita by 2020.
He said the situation was like a disease that needed serious treatment.
