Pak Lah Supports Increase In Retirement Age For Civil Servants.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Monday night said he believed that age 56 is a little bit too young for government servants to retire.

Throwing his weight behind a review of the retirement age for civil servants, the Prime Minister said that such an exercise should take into account the longer life span and better health conditions enjoyed by Malaysians now.

Speaking at the annual dinner of the Association of Administrative and Diplomatic Service here, he said that civil servants who reached the current retirement age would possess a wealth of experience that they could still contribute to the government.

Referring to association president Tan Sri Aseh Che Mat's speech earlier in which he suggested that the retirement age for civil servants should be fixed at 60, Abdullah said: "There's merit for us to review it."

Abdullah pointed out that 40 used to be the age of maturity but now people were at the prime of their life when they were in their 50's. He said that it could be said that when one reached 60 years of age, one could still be considered young nowadays.

Nevertheless, Abdullah reminded that there were those who would beg to differ on the need to up the retirement age. They would complain, he said, that it would make it hard for them to move upward in their career given that it would take so long for civil servants to retire.

"We'll have to consider all these factors. But I sincerely believe that 56 is a little bit too young too retire. The question is how do we go about it. "But we will discuss the matter further not only for the sake of the civil service but also for the sake of the nation's future," Abdullah said.

In urging the government to increase the retirement age to 60 years, Aseh, who is also the secretary-general of the Home Affairs Ministry, said the association failed to understand the need to extend appointments of civil servants on a contract basis.

"It appears this issue will not go away... as such the association seeks the Prime Minister's intervention to have the retirement age reviewed," he said. Aseh pointed out that the retirement age of civil servants in some countries was beyond 65 years.

He also called for the Efficiency Level Assessment (PTK) under the Malaysian Remuneration System (SSM) for government employees be done away with. "There is a lot of dissatisfaction over it. Mid-level promotion vacancies remain unfulfilled because of it (PTK)," he said. Aseh said that the PTK had made the civil service too exam-oriented.

He added that the association also supported Cuepacs call for a salary review for civil servants. (Bernama)

***** There are some who would say that many civil servants as it is have overstayed and extending their tenure is only going to prolong their bad influence on the younger staff. Moreover the longer they stay the more difficult it would be for the juniors to move up and promotion exercises would become chaotic leading to more unhappiness among them. Some even advise that a majority of public servants should be made to either optionally or compulsorily retire, especially the deadwood and the corrupt. Only the best and the most productive should be allowed to stay on and contribute their experience. What we don't need is 59-year-old men skipping work and sipping teh tarik in the office canteen at 9am and mak cik of the same age knitting their cucu's clothing during waktu pejabat at taxpayer's expense.
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