KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Deputy Human Resources Minister Awang Hashim said it was unfair to benchmark Malaysia’s wage subsidy scheme against a similar programme in Singapore.
He said the two countries’ different population size meant a direct comparison was not fair.
“You see if we compare to Singapore, their population is only about five million, in Malaysia, the workforce alone it’s already 7.1 million who are affected.
“So if a comparison is made, let’s compare apple to apple and not apple to orange,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today during question time.
Awang was responding to Parti Amanah Negara’s Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar, his predecessor, who asked if the government would raise the wage subsidy to 75 per cent and match Singapore’s policy.
The deputy minister said the government also has other programmes for jobs retention and to assist businesses.