Tun M against salary increment?

Tun M against salary increment?

Tun Dr Mahathir 

Mohamad has 

warned against 

increasing civil 

servants’ pay too 

much, as this may

 send the nation 

towards eventual

 bankruptcy.The 
former prime minister
 said that any drastic 
jump in public 
sector pay would mean there will be 
insufficient funds for the nation’s 
basic developmental needs, which
 could possibly force Putrajaya to 
borrow more.“If we increase 
salaries too much, and we have 
more than a million government
 employees, there is a likelihood 
that we will not have enough
 for even minimal development.

“We may announce a big 
development budget but there
 will simply be not enough money 
to implement them. We may borrow.
 But there is a limit to borrowing,” 
he said on his Chedet blog yesterday.

This was because the government
 would eventually be unable to service
 its loans if it borrows too much, he cautioned.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Datuk 
Seri Najib Razak announced that the 
government would scrap the 
new Public Service Remuneration 
Scheme (SBPA).

The civil servant pay scheme had
 been criticised for benefiting top
 government servants while leaving
 the majority of the civil service with 
paltry salary hikes.

Instead, the existing Malaysian 
Remuneration System (SSM) will 
be kept in place with new improvements.

Dr Mahathir, who successfully 
steered the country through the
 Asian financial crisis of 1997, also
 hit out at the federal opposition’s 
“populist” demands, saying these
 would empty out the government’s coffers.
 
Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) calls for pay 
hikes, higher non-taxable pensions,
 abolition of tolls and continued 
subsidies, if realised, he said, would 
force the government to spend more 
than it earns.

He pointed out that profligacy 
had caused Greece’s ongoing 
sovereign debt crisis, and warned 
against following such “irresponsible”
 practices.

“The opposition, wishing to become
 popular and win elections, will 
always support these demands. 
Not having to be responsible for the 
overspending and the possible bankruptcy
 of the nation, it is easy for them to support.

“I hope the people will see through their
 lack of a sense of responsibility to the nation,” 
he said.

Dr Mahathir added that the government of
 the day should not try to be popular and 
urged the public to “understand” if not 
all of their wants could be met.

“When a demand is made, the government
 has to examine the implication not only… 
in terms of its capacity to meet the 
demand, it must also consider the 
effect on the whole nation.

“If the government cannot approve the 
demand, it must be because it does 
not want to bankrupt the nation,” he said.