KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — The government is considering an amendment to the Armed Forces Act 1972 to remove voluntary resignation by Armed Forces members and make a full 21-year service tenure compulsory.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this is to ensure that Armed Forces personnel will be granted a pension upon leaving the service.
“Currently the Act allows for Armed Forces personnel to voluntarily resign after 12, 15, and 18 years of service. However, those who do so will not be given a pension,” he said following a dialogue session with veterans’ associations at Wisma Perwira ATM.
Ismail said many who voluntarily resign from the Armed Forces do so in order to start their own businesses or seek other forms of livelihoods.
“But not everyone can be successful in business. Some do, others do not.
“So the amendment aims to provide a pension for everyone who leaves the Armed Forces after 21 years of service,” he said.
The minister noted that many usually join the Armed Forces in their early 20s, or even shortly after turning 18.
“This means after a full two decades of service, they would be in their 40s which is still relatively young.
“Many have school-going children and families to raise, so the proposed amendment is one way of helping them,” he said.
It was announced during the dialogue session that the government via the Defence Ministry has spent over RM336 million to provide one-off aid to members of the Armed Forces.
These are in the forms of loans, Hari Raya Aidilfitri aid, and Prihatin Nasional aid to both pensioned and non-pensioned Armed Forces members.
