Pay cuts for corporate executives and the promotion of backyard vegetable plots are the latest government plans to help the country overcome a deepening economic crisis.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who together with other Cabinet members is taking a 10 per cent pay cut, said yesterday the 'unreasonably high' wages of top and middle-ranking executives in the private sector should be trimmed. They should be commensurate with company profits and production costs.
Dr Mahathir said companies should not accommodate executives' demands for salaries double or triple the normal rate.
In light of the prevailing currency and stock market turbulence, executives should not be paid the 'exorbitant' salaries they commanded when the economy was buoyant.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Sulaiman Daud said his ministry would make seeds, fertiliser and hydroponic sets available to Malaysians at 'affordable prices' to encourage them to grow vegetables.
Launching an 'edible landscaping' campaign, he said the aim was to have every home, apartment and school cultivate vegetables. 'We want to promote vegetable growing as a beneficial hobby,' he said.