BY: AFIX REDZUAN
KUALA LUMPUR, APR 4: The Federal Government must pay special attention to graduates’ starting salaries as it is RM2,000 now in 2017 compared to RM1,800 in the nineties.
Petaling Jaya Selatan Member of Parliament, Hee Loy Sian said the increment is merely about RM200 over the past 22 years.
“Even a fried mee now costs RM5 compared to RM2 in those days,” he said in Dewan Rakyat today.
He added that the Federal Government at the same time must seriously address the unemployment issue.
The Human Resources Minister, Datuk Richard Riot’s statement saying that unemployment among graduates is a normal phenomenon is every developing country reflects the Federal Government’s dismissiveness in addressing the issue.
“We are now facing a serious issue of high unemployment rate among graduates and youths.
“We should not just look at the percentage but we must note the actual numbers of unemployed graduates and youths. The numbers are worrying.
“This shows that the Federal Government is not serious in addressing the issue which is burdening the nation,” he said.
Earlier, in a question and answer session in Dewan Rakyat, Mr Riot stated that unemployment rate in 2015 had increased by 1.2% to 273,600 people compared to 248,000 in 2014.
Graduates’ salaries increase merely RM200 over 22 years
