Syed Saddiq joins Umno Youth’s call to abolish politicians’ pensions

Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the salaries of civil servants have not been raised since 2013, while they face other challenges such as poor living quarters.

PETALING JAYA: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has joined Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh’s call for elected representatives and ministers’ pensions to be abolished rather than civil servants’.

Syed Saddiq said civil servants’ wages have not been raised since 2013, while they face other challenges such as poor living quarters.

He said nurses in Singapore earned more than specialist doctors in Malaysia’s public healthcare sector, adding that this has caused the country to lose many of its talents.

“A minister can receive two to three pensions, hundreds of thousands in annual allowances, even while holding positions in government-linked companies (GLC).

“Meanwhile, a civil servant earning RM1,500, working day and night, residing in poor quarters, will be denied a pension. Is this fair?” the former Muda president said in a Facebook video posted tonight.

On Wednesday, deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said new civil servants would no longer receive pensions but would contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso).

Zahid said this would alleviate the government’s financial burden by reducing pension payments, which he said would reach RM120 billion in 2040 without any change to the system.

This is set to be implemented by this year, with the public services department to announce the exact date.

In response, Akmal urged Putrajaya to phase out pension payments for elected representatives first to boost the government’s coffers rather than touching civil servants’ pensions.

Akmal, the Merlimau assemblyman and a Melaka executive councillor, urged both government and opposition elected representatives to back his proposal.