The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC), the country's largest labour group, said about 30,000 of its members joined the protest across the country.

A few thousand picketed the Employees Provident Fund centre near central Kuala Lumpur, the MTUC said.

Police said the protest was largely peaceful and there were no immediate reports of violence.

The nationwide protest was the second since June spearheaded by the trade unions, and was meant to push government to accede to the minimum wage demand to protect workers from a large pool of foreign workers competing for jobs.

"We have to show the government that we are serious in our intentions and they must comply with our demands," said MTUC secretary general G. Rajasekaran.

He said that after the first protest, the government invited them for talks but only to advise unions to set up wage councils for different industries.

The government response, he said, was unacceptable.

"We need a law for (a) minimum wage to ensure a better future for us and the country," Rajasekaran said.

One of Malaysia's leading opposition groups, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), supported Wednesday's protest, saying local workers needed to be protected from the influx of foreigners cornering a major chunk of the labour market.

Malaysia's construction and plantation sectors rely heavily on the services of cheap labour from an estimated pool of nearly half a million illegal workers from neighbouring countries.

The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research earlier estimated that by 2010, there will be an estimated five million foreign workers in Malaysia.

CHINESE MALAYSIANS UNHAPPY WITH ECONOMIC POLICY

Another report adds: Many of Malaysia's ethnic Chinese minority believe the government's economic policy discriminates against them in favour of the Malay majority, a survey showed Wednesday.

The Chinese, who control many businesses in this multi-racial nation, said the government often overlooked them in favour of Malays when awarding major public projects, according to respected Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.

It said 45 percent of Chinese surveyed were "unhappy and dissatisfied" with economic policy which they believed also benefited the rich and politically connected over those who worked hard.

About 1,022 people were questioned in the survey, carried out in June, to gauge public sentiment ahead of general elections tipped for later this year or early in 2008.

Merdeka also said 75 percent of Malays believe Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government was handling the economy well in contrast to the Chinese who gave him a "below average" approval rating.

"The majority of Chinese are less confident with the government's ability in fulfilling people's aspirations," the survey said.

It was not known how many Malays were questioned for the survey.