KUCHING, Sept 9: The Federal Government must take a holistic and in-depth approach to determine the most suitable pension scheme for retirees, said Pesaka Bumipuetera Bersatu (PBB) information chief Datuk Idris Buang.
“The Federal Government’s intended decimation of the pension scheme should not be done in a haste. Throw politics aside… this subject calls for consideration of things that go deep into the hearts of each government worker such as social security in retirement life, health care, old age poverty and many more, vis-a-vis the survival of the nation itself,” Idris said in a statement here today.
He pointed out that a careful, holistic and in-depth study has to be done by the Government with inputs from all stakeholders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and experts in superannuation, actuary and related fields before any decision is made.
“It is not an easy subject. But a fair reasonable and most importantly, a workable solution has to be found. Questions must be answered to the effect. Are there any better or what is the best pension scheme anywhere else in the world for Malaysia to follow?” asked Idris.
According to Idris, who is also Muara Tuang Assemblyman, the best scheme should mean that it can provide assurance to the workers of a steady post-retirement subsistence allowance, a reasonably ready health care for them and their spouses without being unduly exposed to imminent old-age poverty and being refused of any hospital admission or treatment.
“So, the subject of humanity and humanitarianism with such universal value that we have as a responsible society (as opposed to being an ungrateful and decadent society that we do not want to be accused of) do have the same degree of importance as economics, actuary and etc.
“We surely do not want our grandpas and grandmas who had put most of their lives to serve the nation be seen crawling the alleys of our pasar malam for leftover food in order to survive.
We also do not wish any of them being rejected by the hospitals they used to get their medication from,” he said.
Idris asserted that there must be a proper way to provide a quality of life for the pensioners who makes less than 10 per cent of total the population.
“Should there be a common basic monthly sum per pensioner after retirement with maybe a calculable gratuity or ‘golden hand-shake’ as one professor from UUM (University Utara Malaysia) suggested upon retirement?
“I am no expert but being a citizen, I am equally concerned about the fate of our government servants.
“I therefore hope that the Federal Government should not make a hasty decision to cancel off the present scheme but instead it must find the best solutions that take reasonable consideration of all relevant views from every concerned quarter.
“What happen to them (retirees) will definitely shape the kind of younger workers that we breed to propel the nation into the future as they too will be getting old and aged eventually. The cycle goes on,” said Idris. — DayakDaily
