Retirement age may be raised to 58 or 60

The Malaysia Government is expected to make an announcement soon on the extension in the retirement age for civil servants from 56 to 58 or 60.

"Based on the feedback received, the Public Service Department (JPA) has already agreed, whether it's 58 years or 60 years, it is up to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and we hope the Prime Minister will announce it soon or make the announcement when tabling the 2008 Budget," Cuepacs President Omar Osman told the reporters.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) felt that the extension of the civil servants’ retirement age to 60 should have been implemented much earlier. Its president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said this had been MTUC’s request for more than two years. He said Abdullah “was not sensitive enough to MTUC’s requests” previously.

“If we compare ourselves to our neighbouring countries such as Singapore, India, the Philippines and others, we are in fact behind them in this aspect. “The retirement ages in these countries are from 60 to 65, and we are only now extending it to 60,” he said.

In November this year, the Government had decided to spend RM9 billion, including an additional RM1.3 billion allocation, to implement the new pension and retirement policy for next year.

Starting from Jan 1, the government will pay the benefits to 141,000 pensioners and those entitled to them, adding that this was made possible through a saving of RM1.9 billion by extending the retirement age to 58.

"About 15,000 civil servants are not expected to retire next year. The saving is from their pension and gratuity," Post-Services Division director Datuk Yeow Chin Kiong said.