KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Cuepacs, the umbrella union for civil servants in the country, hopes the government will raise retirement age of the 1.2 million civil servants from 58 to 60, to keep up with countries in the region.
Its president Omar Osman said Malaysia was still lagging behind neighbouring countries where retirement age ranges from 60 to 62.
Omar said Cuepacs hopes Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is also the Finance Minister, would approve the proposal and announce it during the tabling of the 2011 budget, next month.
"We have been pushing the proposal for many years. In 2006 we submitted a memorandum on the matter but the government only agreed to raise it to 58 instead of 60 later.
"We hope the government can still consider this because it is an option and not compulsory. When government increased it from 56 to 58, it was also an option, not automatic," he told Bernama in an interview.
He said the government should raise the retirement age in line with the practices of neighbouring countries such as Brunei, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
The retirement age for civil servants in Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia is 60 while in Singapore, it is 62.
Malaysia's retirement age which was increased from 56 to 58, took effect since 2008.
Omar said even the local banking industry had recently agreed to raise the retirement age of their employees from 55 to 57 and this proves that Malaysians still can contribute productively to the country's economy even if retirement age was raised to 60.
"New graduates or those who still have many years of service in the government should not be worried about this. We have to adopt an open mentality as it was an option and not compulsory," he added.
Omar said the expertise and experience of civil servants are still very much in demand, and by raising the retirement age, it would be able to give an option for those with experience to serve the country.
"We are not sure if the government will accept our suggestion but we hope they will consider it and make the decision on the matter soon," he said.
-- BERNAMA
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