JAMILAH (not her real name), 28, earns RM750 (S$323) as a salesgirl in Kuala Lumpur.

A single mother of four children, aged 7, 6, 3 and 1, she gave away the youngest one last year because she could not afford to look after her.

Her eldest has been sent back to the kampung to live with her mother-in-law, while her second and third are being cared for by a shelter for women.

Her pay is just enough for rent, transport and food for herself. To get more, she has been trying to help a friend sell T-shirts during the weekend for an extra RM50 a day.

"I don't have the skills or education to get better paying jobs. I also don't have the money or the time to go for training," she adds. Indeed, every minute of the day is spent working or travelling to and from work in congested buses that ply Kuala Lumpur's busy streets.

Today, there are still people who earn RM380 a month and these are employed by major corporations, says Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general, G. Rajasekaran. This, he adds, are generally unskilled and semi-skilled workers whowork in the production and manufacturing sector.

There are also white-collar jobs that pay as low as RM800 a month in major cities. The Consumer Price Index, he says, shows that prices have generally gone up about 30 per cent in the last 10 years, but the wages of many have gone up by only about 10 per cent.

As example, he says the union has recently concluded a pay hike agreement for workers in an assembly plant who have been earning RM600 for the last six years.

"In the new deal, they are getting RM650. That's just eight per cent increase in six years," he says.

In Singapore, he says the minimum pay is S$980 (RM2,275) a month. Even if we do not take into account the exchange rate, it is a lot better; "is it any wonder why many of our people go there to work?"

National Union of Journalists secretary-general, V. Anbalagan, says wages of journalists have been "stagnant" over the last decade.

"Our trade unions have only been able to argue for an average wage increase of about 3.5 per cent per annum. That's about the same as the annual aggregated inflation rate."

If we are looking at whether we are earning enough to afford the basic needs we deem necessary - like proper nutrition, living quarters, education, transport and healthcare - then the 40 per cent of Malaysian households who are earning less than RM1,500 a month are definitely not getting enough, says Universiti Malaya's Prof Dr Rajah Rasiah.

It is safe to assume that if any one of these 40 per cent of Malaysians gets a serious ailment, then they will immediately become a debtor.

"If they turn to a private hospital, they will become poor instantly."

As we progress towards a developed nation, people must be able to get the best, says Prof Ahmad Zubaidi Baharom Shah of Universiti Putra Malaysia.