by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH/ pic by ARIF KARTONO

THE government is considering regulating the gig economy to safeguard its participants’ financial security Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the economy’s participants, particularly the youth, should not be taken lightly as it involves their welfare and economic stability.

“We have discussed it at the ministerial level, particularly on the strike of Foodpanda riders.

“It involves a lot of youth and this shows that careful thoughts and action should be put into the matter,” she told reporters at the launch of MyStemi Foundation in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Earlier this week, hundreds of riders of food delivery service, Foodpanda Malaysia Sdn Bhd, staged a protest over the change of payment scheme imposed by the company last Saturday.

Foodpanda said the new scheme would allow the riders flexibility in their working hours and the areas in which they wished to work.

Its MD Sayantan Das said the new scheme offers incentives up to RM100 for every 60 hours working time in a week and an additional bonus for a minimum of 80 completed orders between Sept 30 and Oct 6.

However, Foodpanda riders claimed that their hourly-fixed allowance of RM4 will be removed under the new scheme.

Instead, the riders would be paid between RM4.50 and RM7 per trip, which they claim does not reflect their actual working hours.

On Wednesday, the government has tasked a formulation of a tripartite committee, comprised of the Ministry of Human Resources, Ministry of Youth and Sports and Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, to act on the matter.

The call was mooted by Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saadiq Syed Abdul Rahman after having a dialogue session with hundreds of Foodpanda riders.

Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran said his ministry had conducted necessary consultations with stakeholders on the free market system, or gig economy, as well as the details involved in regulating the sector.

Both ministers have urged Foodpanda to revert its payment system to the previous mechanism.

According to the Employees Provident Fund, the gig economy in Malaysia grew 31% in 2017, surpassed the growth of conventional workforce.

Separately, Dr Wan Azizah launched the MyStemi Foundation, a charity formed to generate funds to enable patients with heart disease to have greater access to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a treatment which is dubbed as a gold standard treatment globally.

In 2017, only 18% of heart patients in the country received primary PCI treatment.

Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, said the number of Malaysian women who are affected by heart disease has increased from 20% in 2014 to 22% in 2017.

“Women, especially, deserve special attention in this field. Traditionally, we have associated heart disease as affecting more men than women.

“When women have heart attacks, they are usually 10 years older than the male counterparts and less likely to be treated aggressively with primary PCI,” she said.