The current hot topic lately is
regarding the pay hike of the Selangor state government’s representatives. From
conventional media to online forums, many people from all walks of life
including political leaders have been giving their two cents on this issue.
Most of the comments are the pay hike is too steep and comes at a bad time
whereby the country is facing financial constraints.
No doubt at a glance, the pay
hike of reaching more than double for some is indeed excessive. However, let’s
dissect further and imagine the state government is actually a multinational corporation.
For a multinational corporation, hiring the best people for the job is crucial.
This is to ensure the operation of the corporation runs smoothly and
efficiently and at the same time generate good revenue and profits. These
personnel are being paid based on market value and sometimes even higher based
on their competencies. Look at huge corporations like Apple, Microsoft and most
of the international banks. Their executives are paid handsomely. These
corporations are generating good profits even with the pay package they are
dishing out for their personnel. Why is this so? Just a simple check with the Human
Resource executives will paint a clearer picture. In order to find the right
people for the job and also talented ones, the pay package is the main tool to
attract them. They are being paid for their worth and the benefit they bring to
the corporation. The pay factor also increases morale and spur the personnel to
work harder besides being useful in retaining talent. The shareholders would
not have any problem with this either.
Let’s come back to the Selangor
state government representatives. For the almost five years in control of the state
government, Selangor now has a surplus of funds exceeding the previous state
government immensely. If in a corporation point of view this is similar to
having generated a huge profit. So is it wrong to reward the “personnel” with
higher pay based on their competency? By increasing their pay, they are entrusted
with the responsibility to work harder to generate more income for the state
and to serve the people better. Is not this a good thing? If they fail, we can
always revert to the corporation way of demoting them or even “firing” them during
the next General Election by us rakyat as the “shareholders”.
Let’s us now apply this concept
to the Barisan Nasional representatives and their allies which are the loudest
voice of criticism. They are right to certain extent when they say that if the similar
pay hike is implemented in a BN-controlled state all hell will break loose. Why
is this so? Let’s move back to the corporation point of view. Since BN is in
control for decades of the federal government, the country’s debts have being
rising rapidly, costs of living is increasing, public security level is decreasing,
misuse of public funds is horrifying and many more. A corporation that is
losing money, losing reputation and embezzlement, of course all hell will break
loose from the “shareholders” if the “personnel” are given higher pay.
We should look into the bigger
picture rather than restricting our view within a box. The current Selangor
Menteri Besar is a corporate-trained person. Thus we should respect his executive
decision so long everything remains well in the state of Selangor. As the
common saying goes, what you pay is what you get. If you pay peanuts you will
only get a monkey. God bless Selangor.
