KUALA LUMPUR: The government should attempt to humanise the salary adjustment for civil servants to dispel any ill-feelings by those in the private sector, says former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
In his podcast, Keluar Sekejap, Khairy lauded the salary adjustment due to its real impact on ordinary people, and used the example of an animal handler, whose salary would increase from RM1,795 to RM2,327.
"Just imagine, from a human level. That is an extra RM500 plus a month. You can do a lot with RM500. You can buy a car, you can think of real estate, you might be thinking of starting a family.
"This is a consequential change. Not only politically for the government, but also for the lives of a civil servant, especially those from the lower grades," Khairy said.
He said he believed that the government had not personalised and humanised the impact of the policy, which may create an air of discontent among workers in the private sector.
"They must personalise the story. If not, it becomes abstract.
"Then people will make stupid statements like "civil servants do not deserve it" or "civil servants are lazy," Khairy said.
Co-host and former Umno info chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan questioned whether such a move would be successful, as previous governments have attempted to humanise their policies with mixed results.
"(Humanising policy) fails when it is not reality. This is reality. These stories will touch people's hearts and reduce any bitterness.
"My concern now is half of the population feels good but the other half asks when it is their turn," Khairy explained.
The duo believed that a salary adjustment, which was last done under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had always been a work-in-progress, but the current government can pull it off due to its other policies, such as subsidy rationalisation.
"This is why you must be brave enough to implement subsidy rationalisation. This is the proof.
"If funds are redistributed to something else that can benefit the people, that is good, sustainable economic management. But communication has to be on-point," Shahril said.
Last Friday (Aug 16), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced a 15 per cent salary increment for civil servants in the implementing and professional group, effective December 1.
In the same speech, Anwar said there is no excuse for private companies making high profits to continue paying low salaries and that the pay hike should serve as a message for the private sector to follow suit.