Milestone event: Sim presenting an update on his first 100 days in office as HR Minister to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
IT’S been a few days since Human Resources (HR) Minister Steven Sim wrapped up his 100 days in office.
The three months are often regarded as a milestone for a leader in office and a good time frame to evaluate the performance of the person. Well, in simple language, it is the end of the probation period.
When the Member of Parliament for Bukit Mertajam was appointed the HR Minister, I texted the 41-year-old politician for an interview.
His reply was short and simple – please wait until my 100 days are over. Unlike most politicians, who would simply blabber off what they wanted to do and enjoy the publicity, Sim was more modest, preferring to learn about the ministry first.
Over the past three months, the Penangite has been hard at work to prove his mettle, focusing on three areas, or what has been called the 3K – Kebajikan, Kemahiran, Keberhasilan Pekerja or the welfare, skills and productivity of workers.
In setting up his office, not many people were aware he even hired a workers’ rights activist and unionist, Chee Yeeh Ceeu, as his special functions officer.
The move is significant as it is certainly a recognition of the trade union movements’ contributions to workers’ rights in Malaysia.
Chee is a general council member of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) and the general treasurer of the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE).
Sim went further – he doubled the ministry’s allocation for unions from RM2.6mil to RM5.8mil.
Then, there is the Veteran MyWIRA to help army veterans upgrade their skills in line with the job market transition into the private sector.
The initiative empowers them to move from the army life into civilian life with good second careers, but that is only possible with training.
As part of the initiative, 500 job-matching opportunities will be provided this year with competitive salaries.
Now that the 100 days are over, the real work has actually begun. There will be plenty of challenges and bumps ahead.
Malaysia has one of the highest number of low-skilled foreign workers. It means employers will not see the need to commit themselves to automation.
Employers will also drag their feet to pay higher salaries to Malaysians, but they eventually have to. The brain drain, especially to Singapore, will continue if there is a push factor for workers.
Employers need to understand they have to provide better wages. It must not be merely seen as a fixed cost, but as an investment in human capital.
I believe that the minister understands this and it is on his agenda. It will not be easy but he needs all the support to see it through.
Certainly, the Human Resources Development Corp (HRD Corp) will need to play a key role to support the commitment of the minister.
One important date on the HRD Corp calendar will be the 2024 National Training Week (NTW), which is expected to see 150,000 participants taking part.
The programme will involve 25,000 courses this year, to be held from June 24-30, which will be funded by industry players.
The new features this year will be the inclusion of participants from the civil service sector as well as the enhanced focus on the digital economy and artificial intelligence (AI).
NTW is a full week of nationwide training events and activities bringing together organisations and people from various industries and backgrounds for learning and development opportunities.
The HRD Corp collected a record-breaking levy amounting to RM2.2bil last year compared to RM1.82bil in 2022.
Certainly, it is a feat as the levy collected was regarded as the highest in HRD Corp’s history since its establishment in 1993.
HRD Corp has approved financial assistance worth up to RM1.78bil.
The challenge would be to convince and remind employers of the importance of skills training.Some employers would even prefer forgoing their levies as they think training will take away staff from actual work or disrupt their work process, and some even think team building at a hotel outside their base is sufficient!
Kudos must go to HRD Corp for its achievement and getting stakeholders to come together for NTW.
Under Sim’s leadership, HRD Corp has initiated governance reforms, as well as being tasked to give more value to employers, such as the e-Latih programme memoranda of understanding with 13 top online local and international training providers such as Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google Cloud Partner, Accenture and the Air Asia Academy, Alibaba to provide 160,000 online courses using the levy.
This initiative with top-class trainers will surely dispel the perception that it is difficult to use the levy, or that they aren’t high-quality relevant courses to the organisations.
Then, there are the governance reforms under HRD Corp – the separation of its risk and audit committees, as well as the setting up of a strategic initiatives fund.
Sim must be commended for his initiatives to carry out reforms at the Industrial Court such as ensuring reasonable security of tenures for chairmen, which has now been extended to two+two (from two years), and a colloquium last month with stakeholders to discuss improvements at the court – topics such as translators, equipment and the clearing of backlog cases.
He has also ordered all departments and agencies under the ministry, now known as Kesuma, to obtain the anti-bribery management system certification.
Sim is also reviving the National Labour Advisory Council – where meetings are meant to be held once a year, but the last one was in 2022.
He just chaired the first meeting a few days ago.
He has made sure that no one is left out.
I like the Skim Rumah Tangga (SKSSR), where the country’s three million housewives can contribute to the Housewives’ Social Security Scheme.
It is barely a year old and only 200,000 housewives have signed up, but this energetic young leader is determined to make it work to ensure more housewives, unmarried women and women who do not work but have other tasks have a safety net.
He has led the charge by covering all Kesuma staff (12,000 people) for the scheme and has announced that he will look at an act amendment to extend the age from 55 to 60.
Congratulations on your 100 days as Kesuma Minister!
For an in-depth interview with Human Resources Minister Steven Sim, see “Not a Sim-ulation” in Sunday Star pages 14 & 15 tomorrow.
