KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul has dismissed a suggestion for a 50 per cent cut to MPs’ allowances to fund a raise in doctors’ on-call allowance.
Johari, who previously represented Sungai Petani from 2008 to 2022, told BFM in an interview aired today that although backbencher Members of Parliament receive about RM25,000 in monthly allowances, this amount is “not enough actually” even though “it sounds big”. Ministers receive RM40,000 remuneration a month.
BFM presenter Sharaad Kuttan asked the Parliament Speaker for his opinions about CodeBlue’s recent proposal for a 50 per cent cut to allowances and pensions for MPs and senators – estimated to generate RM83.5 million annually – to cover the RM80 million cost of raising medical officers’ on-call allowance (ETAP) by 25 per cent.
Johari replied, “I do understand”, saying that six of his eight children are doctors who complain to him every day.
“But I say, look here, if you start talking about giving allowances to doctors, how about the policemen? How about the firemen? How about everybody?” said Johari.
He added that a houseman earns about RM4,000 a month, but doctors get to keep their entire wages for themselves.
“This houseman doesn’t have to give anybody; that’s yours, 100 per cent. But an MP, if you go to his office and ask for help, help help, are you saying the MP is not going to help him because ‘this [salary] is mine’? It doesn’t work that way.
“So normally an MP will help. An MP is expected to do all kinds of projects, not only to attend Parliament. You also visit constituents, you’re given an assignment to go for overseas meetings. You do so many things.”
When asked why MPs get paid to attend Parliament sessions, Johari highlighted the responsibilities of lawmakers, some of whom are chairmen of corporations or are overseas for “certain reasons”, besides needing to attend meetings outside the House. “So when they don’t attend [Parliament], I can’t give allowance.”
The Dewan Rakyat Speaker also pointed out that MPs rarely get two consecutive days of rest in a week, saying weekends are in fact the busiest for elected representatives.
“On Saturday and Sunday, you start work as early as 7 o’clock. People queue up to see you, and they see you right until midnight,” said Johari, who is from PKR.
“You have a responsibility not just to your constituents, but you’re [also] a party member. Add it up, I tell you, it’s endless. You keep seeing people.”
Doctors in the government health service frequently work 33 consecutive hours when they’re performing on-call duty, but are paid only RM9.16 per hour, or RM220 per shift for weekend calls.
Johari explained that besides using their RM25,000 monthly allowance (including RM16,000 basic allowance) to run an office, MPs frequently give donations to constituents for all sorts of occasions, including weddings (perhaps RM200), funerals (RM250), or school charity events (RM1,000), besides other requests for contributions during emergencies like hospital visits or floods.
“Towards the end of the year, I attended 11 weddings in a day. So how much should I give? You have funerals – Chinese, Indian, Malay. If you go to a Chinese funeral, they record how much you give. These are the cultural issues you’ve got to understand.”
He also said constituency allocations of more than RM2 million annually for government MPs are for small projects, but the money doesn’t go to the politician’s personal accounts as it’s managed by a central agency.
“So that RM2 million plus is not your money.”
When asked about putting into place a more structured application process for constituents to request for assistance, instead of depending on an MP’s discretion, Johari replied: “This is your money. If this is your money, it’s your discretion.”
In response to a question on why can’t MPs tell their constituents to get aid from the Welfare Department, Johari said: “You’re an MP; you’re elected by the people. Do you dare say it? You can’t. You just simply can’t.”
The House Speaker also said Malaysia does not have regulations on parliamentarians receiving gifts from foreign hosts, except for ministers or deputy ministers who are required to report what they receive because they’re not receiving gifts in their personal capacity, but on behalf of the government.
“But if you’re an MP, it’s okay because you have no position, nothing, and no interest at all. If they give you a bunch of fruits or whatever, you don’t have to report to the Speaker.”
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said in a recent written Dewan Negara reply that the Ministry of Health (MOH) was working on a Cabinet memorandum to propose a new ETAP rate for medical and dental officers, as well as new “guidelines” to improve implementation of on-call duty.
Dzulkefly also said a 50 per cent increment of ETAP, which currently costs the MOH about RM288 million annually, would increase the cost of on-call allowance by RM144 million to RM432 million a year.
Doctors’ groups like the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) have demanded a 50 per cent raise in on-call allowance rates, translating to an additional RM110 to RM125 for medical officers and specialists respectively for weekend calls.
The RM25,000 monthly allowance for MPs is 733 per cent higher than Malaysia’s median monthly salary of RM3,000 in March 2025.
