(April 30): Faced with escalating cost of living, low wages and public financial losses due to inefficiency, wastage and corruption, Malaysia's 14.2 million workers have lost faith in Putrajaya, said DAP today.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said in his Labour Day message that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's hype on his economic transformation plan successes, including the 6% growth recorded in 2014 meant little to Malaysians still mired in household debt and a widening income gap.

Lim, who is also Penang's chief minister, said that the Malaysian ringgit and the country's capital markets were the worst performers in Asia in 2014 despite the touted 6% economic growth.

He also questioned the move to transform Malaysia into a high income nation by 2020, when data from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) showed 62% of Malaysian workers earned a monthly wage of below RM2,000.

This, he said, corresponded with the Department of Statistic’s latest report, which showed that median monthly wage of Malaysians was RM1,700.

"With so many Malaysians earning such a low income, any talk of a high income society is nothing more than smoke and mirrors."

He also said that Malaysia's household debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 87.9% or RM940.4 billion as of end of last year was proof that Malaysians were caught in a vicious cycle of debt and low wages.

"As cost of living escalates, especially with the newly implemented GST, Malaysians will struggle to make ends meet as wages are not rising in tandem with productivity.

“In the end, not only do they borrow more, they also end up using more of their income to service their debt."

Referring to the recent uproar over EPF's proposal to raise the full withdrawal age limit to 60 from the current 55, Lim said this showed that Malaysians no longer had any faith or confidence in Putrajaya's ability to manage their money.

He added that although the proposal was not without its merits, the federal government’s recent track record of mismanagement and lack of transparency, especially in light of the RM42 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, raises concern over the usage of the nation's sovereign wealth.

"It is clear that Malaysians need a lifeline when the BN federal government offers no salvation.

“Instead, only a Pakatan Rakyat government with a proven track record can fulfil the aspirations of the people and ensure a competent, accountable and transparent government that will not only ensure economic growth but also equitable distribution.” – The Malaysian Insider