KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Before phasing out the pension scheme for newly appointed civil servants, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today called on Putrajaya to remove the pensions of elected representatives and to raise civil servants’ salaries first.
He said the federal government’s move is inappropriate as prospective civil servants will no longer receive their pensions while politicians who are elected representatives will still receive tiered pensions, which if combined can reach RM100,000 per month.
“Civil servants have to serve up to 50 to 60 years to be entitled for their pension, while elected representatives are eligible after serving a five-year term.
“This is not including the elected representatives’ appointments to government-linked companies bonuses.
“In the past, the Madani government pledged not to make political appointments, but now the same government is expanding the GLC bonuses for politicians,” he said in a statement.
The former youth and sports minister was responding to the planned decision by the government to replace the current pension schemes for all new civil servants.
Syed Saddiq also urged the government to revise the salaries of civil servants that have not been made for more than 10 years since 2013.
“Some of them have a starting salary of RM1,441 despite the minimum salary set at RM1,500,” he said.
Syed Saddiq also called for the revision of civil servants’ allowances by giving an example of police officers who worked hard to keep the public safe, but are not paid any overtime.
“They are only paid RM 200 per month to replace the overtime allowance. It's time for the government to walk the talk,” he said.
Last Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported saying that newly appointed civil servants will no longer receive the traditional pensions, but instead contribute to the Employees' Provident Fund and the Social Security Organisation.
He said the move was to ease the government's financial burden by reducing pension payments which are expected to reach RM120 billion in 2040 without any changes to the system.
