Malaysia: Hundreds of workers march in May Day rally to demand better wages

May Day 2016 rally in Kuala Lumpur. Image via Facebook.

1st May 2016

DEMANDING better working wages and conditions, several hundreds of protesters marched in a peaceful rally in the Malaysian capital this morning.

The crowd had gathered outside a shopping mall called Maju Junction in Kuala Lumpur this morning in a bid to push for a host of various issues affecting workers nationwide.

According to The Star, the main agenda was the call to increase the minimum wage from the existing RM900 (US$230) to RM1,500 (US$380).

High cost of living, the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and freedom of the press, were also among the issues raised during the rally, which was jointly-organised by a socialist political party and civil society groups.

The paper also noted a factory workers’ association’s called for the Government to introduce a special to assist retrenched workers until they found other employment, while a small group of participants made calls for greater gender equality.

Diversity, a non-governmental organisation called Diversity said had made calls for reforms on laws that encouraged gender discrimination

One of its members, Yee Shan, 32, was quoted saying that it was important for the people who share similar beliefs to take this opportunity and voice out their grouses.

At press time, the rally had gone on without any reported incident as police were monitoring the situation.