PM Anwar says interns must be given allowance, but govt won’t force companies to do so

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — Companies should give interns an allowance to cover their travel and food expenses rather than expecting them to do unpaid labour, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim insisted today.

However, he said this would be left up to companies and the government will not fix a policy on it as internships are not forced, he clarified at the launch ceremony of the Capital Market Graduate Programme (CMGP) “InvestED”.

“The government will not determine a clear policy because this is an internship programme that cannot be forced.

“And the more companies take interns, the better for our youth,” he said in his speech at the event held at the Securities Commission in Mont Kiara.

He said that the issue was brought to his attention during a dialogue he had with Malaysian youths.

The youths were well aware that internships were not equivalent to jobs and were merely opportunities to gain exposure and practice in an industry, he added.

“Before when I was the leader of the Opposition in Parliament, I also took in interns.

“The allowance for opposition MPs was only an additional RM1,800 and I was forced to find funds to pay my interns at least RM1,000 at the time,” he said.

He said that aside from giving interns experience, he took into account their travel and food expenses as well as the work they did in aiding him and their understanding of matters such as the Federal Constitution.

In February, the Malaysian Employers Federation president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman reportedly said that making it compulsory for companies to pay interns will discourage employers from offering internships.