KUALA LUMPUR: Netizens have expressed strong opinions following the government's recent announcement related to an introduction of a new hiring system for civil servants, which will include new aspects in matters of pension.
They did not mince their words when they said that cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, members of parliament and assemblymen should be the first to have their pensions removed if it was true that the new remuneration scheme affected pensions in the future.
Social media user, Ae Zal said that pension payments toward MPs were wasteful.
"Former MPs and state assemblymen should not receive pensions… (it is) wasteful," said the Facebook user when quoted by Berita Harian.
Another social media user Muhammad Firdaus Selamat Ali shared the same sentiment.
He suggested that perhaps the pensions for ministers and MPs should be abolished.
"Abolish the pensions for ministers and all elected representatives in this country... it is very detrimental to the government's funds to pay pensions to all of them... just change to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme."
The same sentiment were conveyed by social media users Hadi Ghazali, Muhammad Zuhairies and Singh Singh who called for the pensions of ministers and former ministers to be abolished.
However, others like Shahrulnizam Aberd said it was only fair that ministers who served at least 30 years should receive pension.
"Isn't it reasonable to say that ministers serving less than five years should not get a pension? Pensions are for those who serve at least 30 years, right?
"If you (the government) want to compare (the pension scheme) with the private sector, the amount of bonus should also be the same," he said.
Dean Nadzri said: "The same should be done for ministers and others… only then it will be fair as ministers can still receive a full pension while serving for a short period of time."
Rashid Hamat said any new policy related to civil servants' remuneration and pension scheme should probably involve only certain categories of civil servants.
Since Tuesday, the media have reported about major announcements related to the new recruitment process for civil servants.
On Tuesday, Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz said the government will implement the contract appointment system for new recruitment in the civil service, pending a new recruitment method to strengthen the public service remuneration system.
He had said that the contract of service (COS) system will take effect from Feb 1.
He said the law was still being amended to allow for the creation of a new civil service recruitment method.
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also explained that the government is introducing a new civil service hiring policy, which will include a new pension scheme.
Zahid had said under this method, new hires in the civil service will contribute to retirement schemes like the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Perkeso).
