RM4,500 pay rise when others are suffering

It’s Friday morning and I’ve just logged into my email to check the day’s correspondence.

I open a new tab and go to The Malaysian Insider’s website to see what damage has been done over the night.  Lurking beneath the all-ominous “Changes to Sedition Act passed after heated debate” was “MPs give themselves RM4,500 pay raise”.

RM4, 500. Monthly.

My heart choked.

RM4,500 pay raise. That was far more than the monthly salaries of most of my colleagues and me. It was more than the household income eligible for BR1M.

RM4,500 additional to the RM11,500 they are receiving from their basic pay and allowance. They also receive “a meeting allowance of RM200 a day when attending parliamentary sittings and a daily allowance of RM150 to attend meetings with government agencies.”

A colleague, who is a former political aide to an MP, reminded me that while BN MPs receive the handsome sum of RM1 million to do their constituency programmes, Pakatan Rakyat MPs receive none. Fair enough.

PR MPs should be allocated just as much as the BN MPs, but they are not and as such the additional RM4, 00 would help.

But how do I tell that to the Auntie who day in, day out stands at the entrance of Prangin Mall, handing out fliers to passers-by, enticing them with haircuts?

How do I tell her that when she asks my friends and me if we know of any work, if “kerajaan ada bagi kerja”? How do I tell her to be hopeful, that the GST she pays will be used to build infrastructure to benefit her and the rakyat?

How do I tell that to the Uncle in my favourite market, always bragging to me about his fresh, warm tauhu that would keep in the fridge for three days without water until last month when he could not even get to a tauhu without crushing it as his back was all busted, the shoulders and arms stiff?

How do I tell this Uncle that everything will be all right when he was clearly in pain and GST was to be imposed in a month’s time?

How do I tell that to the Auntie, well past her retirement age, working at the McDonald’s dessert kiosk my friends and I head to for our occasional post-lunch indulgence?

How do I tell her, who has to stand on duty, eight to nine hours a day, six days a week because her employers do not provide her a chair? How do I tell her our MPs are underpaid?

I cried at work as I recalled these three people, well past their prime, still working and struggling. GST affects me, but I can still manage. It does not worry me as much as the curtailing of the freedom of expression or the clampdown on the media.

To most of my peers and I, the rising cost of living is an inconvenience but it is the tightening of reign on freedom of expression that worries us the most because it is the one that has direct effect on us. We are the voice of dissent, among us who are social and political activists.

Last week, it was the crackdown on The Malaysian Insider that shook me, and then this week, it was Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015 (Pota).

What’s more, we found out that 26 Pakatan Rakyat MPs were absent in the Dewan Rakyat when Pota was voted in.

It is their duty, the responsibility they have to the public that voted for them. It is their job to be present. Regardless of Pota being voted in or not, this is what we the people expect from our representatives, who campaigned for our votes.

So to see a blanket pay raise of RM4,500 a month was akin to yet another insult on the people. At a time when basic necessities are being taxed, when parents have to fork out more to feed and clothe their children, when women are being taxed for their periods, how can anyone justify a hefty pay raise for a bunch that many see as entitled and privileged minor lords?

How can I look at the aunties and uncles I see on my way to work and back without thinking about how they have been dealt the wrong cards? – April 12, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.