By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, March 14: Starting this year, new hires for the Sarawak civil service will no longer receive a monthly pension from the government upon retiring but will instead contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) retirement scheme.
State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki explained that all new hires will now come under the Contribution-Based Position (CBP) scheme.
Under the CBP scheme, he said, civil servants will enjoy permanent positions as well as perks and benefits similar to those under the traditional pension scheme, including medical and housing benefits, without being tethered to the pension scheme.
“Under the pension scheme by the Public Service Department (JPA), civil servants would not receive anything if they opt to leave before retirement.
“Sometimes this (scheme) puts them in a difficult situation, especially when they have better offers from the corporate sector. They need to sacrifice their pension scheme if they wish to move to the corporate sector for better career progression,” he told the New Sarawak Tribune in an exclusive interview yesterday (March 13).
Abu Bakar described this strategic move as a ‘new way of doing things,’ aimed at modernising the Sarawak civil service while offering greater flexibility for civil servants seeking career opportunities elsewhere.
He stressed the scheme’s potential to attract young professionals to serve in the Sarawak government.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has instructed all new hires to be employed under CBP, hoping to attract younger talents as they are free to enter and leave the civil service anytime.
“If they wish to return to serve Sarawak in the future, they can be reabsorbed through CBP,” he added.
Abu Bakar said this aligns with the current trend where where young professionals prefer diverse career experiences in different companies, industries or environments and therefore, the State civil service needed to adapt to current trends instead of sticking to old implementations.
He highlighted this when receiving a courtesy call from Suara Sarawak and New Sarawak Tribune, led by its chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Dr Jeniri Amir, New Sarawak Tribune editor-in-chief Aden Nagrace, executive editor Rohana Wahed, and corporate business division senior manager Dorge Rajah, at Wisma Bapa Malaysia.
In fact, Abu Bakar emphasised that CBP is not something entirely new, as the Sarawak government had previously filled some positions not approved by JPA in the past years due to constraints encountered in filling or establishing positions within Sarawak’s civil service as vacancies or positions are subject to JPA approval.
“Consequently, a few years back, we introduced CBP as we have the authority to create or fill positions not approved by JPA which at the same time also allow career advancement opportunities for our civil servants,” he elaborated.
Abu Bakar believed this move was strategic, noting that many developed countries had also transitioned away from pension schemes.
Regarding plans to improve the salary schemes of State civil servants, he mentioned that the Sarawak government is currently studying the matter.
“We will wait for the federal government to announce first (for the federal civil servants) before finalising the salary schemes for our State civil servants,” he said.
Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced on March 8 that the review of the Public Service Remuneration System Study (SSPA), concerning the new civil service salary scheme, is in its final stages. He indicated that the long-awaited update to the SSPA is expected to be unveiled before year-end, following a decade-long period of stagnant salaries for civil servants. — DayakDaily
