Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has urged the government to do away with pensions and replace them with Employee Provident Fund (EPF) savings, whether it be for Members of Parliament (MP) or civil servants in general.
Speaking in his latest Keluar Sekejap podcast episode co-hosted with former UMNO info chief Shahril Hamdan, Khairy said that he agreed with the recent proposal by Muar MP Syed Saddiq and economist Muhammed Abdul Khalid for the abolishment of pensions for ministers and MPs.
However, the former Health Minister took it a step further and proposed for all civil servants’ pensions also be abolished, calling such a practice “a thing of the past”.
Khairy said that during his time in Cabinet, he suggested for 3 things to safeguard Malaysia’s finances, which are the re-introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST), the rationalisation of subsidies and to stop pensions.
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He further elaborated that his suggestion is for future civil servants’ pension to be abolished, hence it won’t affect current civil servants who are eligible for the retirement scheme.
The former Health Minister said,
“Before all the civil servants come and ‘knock’ me for this, my suggestion is for civil servants who are already in service to continue receiving the pension scheme. But all new civil servants, after a set date, for example, 1 January 2024, will all be enrolled in EPF.”
He also claimed that by continuing giving pension to civil servants, the government would have to bear up to Rm50 billion in the next 10 years.
As for the abolishment of pensions for MPs, Khairy said that he is 100% ready to forego his own pension privileges and convert it to EPF savings.
You can watch the podcast episode here:
So, what do you guys think of Khairy’s proposal? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
