Does DAP concur with Guan Eng's call to deprive migrant workers of decent pay?

At the outset, let us be clear on one basic issue – no worker, local or migrant, must be treated differently.

As workers, they must all be accorded equal protection, whether in respect of minimum wage or social security safeguards. That would be in line with Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution, which provides that all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law.

It is, therefore, shocking that the current adviser and former secretary general of the DAP, Lim Guan Eng, had the audacity to call for migrant workers to be excluded from being paid the national minimum wage.

Given the constitutional right to equality, we would expect that migrant workers are covered by the statutory provisions of social security safeguards such as the Employees Provident Fund and the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

Any agitation for the paltry 2% monthly EPF contributions for migrant workers to be removed is nonsensical. This is especially troubling coming from a leading figure of a political party founded on the ideals of progressive social democracy.

When one proposes that internationally adopted labour standards be cast aside, we cannot be faulted for concluding that such a statement reveals a lack of empathy towards the welfare and wellbeing of migrant workers. Remember, these workers have been toiling for decades to keep our crucial economic sectors performing.

Unless one is merely a pseudo-socialist, one would never subscribe to the notion that migrant workers ought to be deprived of their fundamental rights to minimum wages and social security safeguards.

In these circumstances, it would be appropriate to pose the question: after all these years, does the DAP still subscribe to the idea of emancipating the working class regardless of nationality or origin?