Selangor MB And Assemblymen Get The Biggest Pay Raise You Will Ever See

Penang’s opposition leader will get a 100 per cent pay increase, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced today when confirming the salary raises for state assemblymen, municipal councillors and village security and development committee chairmen.

Admist slight table thumping, Lim also announced that the allowance for the opposition leader - currently held by Teluk Ayer Tawar assemblyperson Jahara Hamid - will be increased 100 percent - from RM1,000 to RM2,000.

Lim, however, was silent on the increase in the state reps’ allowances from RM2,000 to RM5,500.

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Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Air Putih) said all 40 state assemblymen would receive a monthly salary increment from RM4,112.79 to RM6,000 from Jan 1 next year.

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Addressing reports that Penang state assemblymen are getting an 88-per cent pay hike, Lim rationalised this by saying that the last time the public representatives reps were given an increment was in 2004.

“This means, each year, the raise was only 6.8 per cent per year,” he said.

He then pointed out that the pay for the chief minister and state executive councillors remained the same.

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“The Penang municipal councillors will also be getting a pay hike and at the same time, village security and development committee (JKKK) chairman and secretary will also be getting pay hikes of RM200,” he announced.
Currently, JKKK chairman salary is RM450 while the secretary is RM350.

Earlier, state executive councillor for local government and party state chairman Chow Kon Yeow announced that all municipal councillors will get more than 100 per cent pay hike.
Currently, councillors get a basic salary of RM700 so with the pay hike, their salary will be increased to more than RM1,400 each month.

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Johor is also studying a proposal to increase the salaries of elected-representatives, but Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said he would not propose a massive increase as approved by the Selangor state assembly.

“Even if there is an increment, it will be insignificant for the Mentri Besar and the exco members,” he said after officiating the Agro Johor 2013 expo in conjunction with the state level farmers and fishermen’s day celebration here in Ayer Hitam.

The Selangor State Legislative Assembly had approved a salary hike for all 56 state assemblymen effective next year, with its deputy speaker getting the highest percentage of 373.3%.

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The assembly passed a 268 percent pay hike for the Selangor Speaker yesterday, along with pay rises for the Menteri Besar (RM29,250 amonth), Deputy Speaker (RM15,750) and assemblypersons (RM11,250).

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The last time Selangor adjusted the salaries was in 2004 in accordance with increased responsibilities for the representatives , an aide to the state mentri besar told The Malay Mail Online today.

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The Star's factbox shows that the Selangor speaker's salary is RM22,500 a month while the deputy prime minister's pay is RM18,168 a month.
It also compared the salaries of Selangor assemblypersons and executive council with the salaries of MPs and the members of the federal cabinet.

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Earlier at noon, Khalid had justified the hike as it will help stop representatives and the executive councillors from looking for extra income from external sources.

"This income (hike) is suitable for the people's representatives and state executive councillors as they will no longer need to find extra income from outside. This has happened (before)," Khalid told reporters after attending the state assembly meeting.

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“The decision to raise the salaries is due to the burden of increased duties and responsibilities,” Khalid told the Selangor state assembly, with the PKR leader also saying that the state’s healthy finances had contributed to the decision for a pay rise. “And of course, it is also because of the continued requests made by the assemblymen,” said the second-term Mentri Besar who stepped into office in 2008.

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In response to attacks that allegedly implied she earned more than the prime minister and deputy prime minister, the DAP politician took to Twitter to declare she does not have a luxurious lifestyle that involved “diamonds” and “private jets”.

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Selangor Speaker Hannah Yeoh publicly declared her assets on Twitter today after seeing her monthly salary jump to RM22,500 following an increase for government leaders and elected representatives effective from 2014.

She then stressed that with or without the salary hike, she will continue to serve as the Speaker and Subang Jaya assemblyperson.

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Responding to Teo's tweet, Abdul Rahman accused her of “flip-flopping” and asked: “Didn't you want to be a hero and blasted BN for trying to increase MPs' allowances previously?”

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Arguing the adjustments to be “too high”, the Selangor Backbenchers Club (BBC) urged the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state today to postpone the January 2014 salary revision of its government leaders, including the legislative assembly speaker, deputy speaker and assemblymen pending a review.

“The BBC welcomes the proposal for such a study. But what shocked us is that in less than a week, the study was completed and debated yesterday without discussion with the BBC or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor,” said the PKR deputy president.

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“We suggest that the increase be delayed and reviewed so that it is more reasonable, and to explain to the people the need for the increase. We don’t reject the need to increase salaries, but the salary increase is too high and we ask for an explanation from the state government,” added the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman.

Even as his partymen called for the Exco and assemblymen salary hike to be postponed, the Selangor Menteri Besar is adamant it will go ahead.
"I will not withdraw the salary hike. We have already passed it in the assembly," said Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Khalid said the hike in salary was done with the endorsement of assemblymen from Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional.
“When it was debated, everyone was for it and there was no objection,” he said.

However, Khalid said assemblymen who disagreed with the salary revision can channel the extra income to other channels.
“So, if anyone disagreed or is unhappy they can donate (the money) to someone,” he said, taking a swipe at Azmin.

The pay hike for Selangor state lawmakers is "quite high", Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said today.
"I agree (with the salary hike) if the salaries for the MB, exco and assemblypersons were raised a little bit. But I do not understand why the raise is so high," the former PKR deputy president said in a Twitter posting today.

Although agreeing that a review of assemblymen's salaries was long overdue, Anwar said Khalid must clarify the hike to Pakatan Rakyat and the people via the media.

"I was told that the increase is a bit high and he has to explain to Pakatan what is the reason," he told reporters at Parliament lobby Thursday.

“I agree with the raise, and also in Parliament (for MPs). But I told the MB that the increase is high and he has to explain his reasons to Pakatan,” Anwar said.

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The move has also drawn heavy criticism from Selangor residents, who urged the Selangor government to provide an explanation behind the decision.

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A 79-year-old pensioner from Section 17, Petaling Jaya, who wanted to be known only as Hassan, said the state government should take into consideration the increase in the cost of living of the people before making such a decision. “With such a high increment, the state government must give sufficient explanation as to why it is so. They should compare such a move with the salary scale of reps in other states.

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Another Kajang resident Shahrom Mohd Harun, 67, said the hike would not benefit the people unless it was accompanied by a guarantee of better services for the people.

“People will expect them to perform a better job from now on. Selangor reps need to pull their socks up.

“They must compare themselves with other states and see whether they can perform just as well or better,” said Shahrom

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MPs from both sides of the political fence clashed over the salary rise for all Selangor assemblyman including the Mentri Besar himself.

Some Barisan Nasional representatives called the increase too much, with Datuk Seri Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) saying the 106% salary increase for the Mentri Besar to RM29,250 a month was not reasonable.

“This is the second time that the Opposition-ruled Selangor government has approved pay hikes for state leaders. I find it weird because the Opposition objected when Barisan MPs proposed a salary increase for MPs.

“However, Selangor has instead pushed up salaries. Their move smacks of double standards,” he said when approached at the Parliament lobby.

Noh admitted that the duties of the Mentri Besar and state executive councillors were heavy, time-consuming and deserving of a pay hike.

“But increasing salaries by over 100% is too much,” he said.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (BN-Arau) said the pay increase in states should only take place after the Parliament made changes to the MPs’ remuneration.

“Now it seems that the wages of a state assemblyman are more than an MP’s,” he said.

Datuk Yap Pian Hon today criticised the pay rise that was passed as law in Selangor yesterday, saying that this was done even as pressing issues in the state such as water supply problems and alleged corruption remain unresolved.

Although Yap noted Khalid’s justification that the pay rise was due to Selangor government’s effective management of the state’s security and development, he claimed that the state was plagued with a list of problems that needed to be tackled. Yap then continued to say that the PR-led state government should not “take the mandate of Selangor residents for granted and do whatever it pleases”.

“I urge the Selangor State Government to review and revoke the Bill as the relevant funds should be channelled towards development and management within the state, particularly in strengthening security and infrastructure,” the former vice-president said in a statement today.

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“For the Menteri Besar’s salary to exceed the Prime Minister’s by RM6,424 is ludicrous considering that the PM’s responsibilities are much weightier governing the entire country compared to the former who looks after only one state.

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