Koon Yew Yin, 15th Aug 2024

If I knew politicians are so well paid, I should have been a politician. A few days ago, one old friend who migrated to Australia about 40 years ago, visited me. He told me that he was a Member of Parliament before and he is still receiving a monthly pension. MPs become eligible for a pension after completing 36 months of reckonable service and upon reaching 50.

Should ministers, members of parliament (MPs) and state assemblymen take the lead first in forgoing their pensions?

Following the furore over the proposed abolishment of the pension scheme for new government hires, many quarters have called for the elected representatives to be ineligible for the pension scheme. The announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who cautioned that the government would be spending RM140 billion on pensions by 2040 if new salary schemes aren't introduced, has since sparked a flurry of responses.

Umno Youth was among the first to raise the idea, followed by MCA Youth, which commended the call for pension abolition and suggested that ministers and MPs should lead by example in accepting these changes.

Cuepacs added its voice to the chorus of dissenters, saying that MPs and state assemblymen should be subjected to the same conditions first, and added that many elected representatives, with high salaries and allowances, only serve for five years before qualifying for a lifelong pension.

The New Straits Times takes a quick look at how much MPs and assemblymen can earn.

SALARIES, ALLOWANCES AND PERKS

As per the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act 1980, an MP's monthly salary, including their allowances, could work out to an average of RM25,700.

Additionally, MPs can claim various allowances or subsidies for specific purposes. For instance, they receive RM400 per day for attending parliamentary sittings and a one-time allowance of RM1,000 every three years to purchase black-tie attire.

Below is a list of allowances they qualify for:

• Salary: RM16,000 per month
• Parliamentary sitting attendance: RM400 per day
• Government agency meetings/workshops attendance: RM300 per day
• Entertainment allowance: RM2,500 per month
• Special payment for non-administration MP: RM1,500 per month
• Fixed travel allowance: RM1,500 per month
• Fuel allowance: RM1,500 per month
• Toll allowance: RM300 per month
• Driver allowance: RM1,500 per month
• Handphone purchase: Up to RM2,000 every two years
• Phone bill allowance: RM900 per month
• Purchase of computer: Up to RM6,000
• Black-tie attire subsidy: RM1,000 every three years
• Ceremonial attire allowance: Up to RM1,500
• Warm clothing allowance
• Free vehicle license
• Official trips - Business class air travel
• Official trips - First-class rail travel
• Domestic duties exceeding 32km from home: Hotel allowance up to RM400 a night
• Daily stipend during business trips: Domestic - RM100 a night/ International - RM170 a night
• Food allowance when overseas: RM340 a night
• First-class single-room ward in government hospitals: Free

MPs also become eligible for a pension after completing 36 months of reckonable service and upon reaching 50.

WHICH STATE HAS THE BEST-PAID ASSEMBLYMEN?

Meanwhile, assemblymen reportedly receive a monthly allowance of between RM6,000 and RM15,000 each on average.

Assemblymen from Sarawak recorded the highest monthly salaries at RM15,000, followed by Melaka at RM12,000, Selangor and Penang each at RM11,500, and Kedah, Terengganu, and Pahang each at RM11,000.

Perak and Perlis registered the lowest salaries for their assemblymen at RM6,000 per month.

The most recent salary adjustments for state assemblymen were predominantly based on increments in 2013, except for Melaka (2023), Sabah (2022) Johor, Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan, and Pahang (2015), as well as Negri Sembilan (2014).

Some MPs and assemblymen also sit on the boards of government-linked companies, the chairmanship of which could see them pocket an additional RM40,000 and RM50,000 a month.