YOURSAY | Elected leaders' pension scheme obscene, disgraceful

YOURSAY | ‘Politicians who support it are working against the people.’

96pct of Mkini readers want MP pensions replaced with EPF

Koel: It looks like, for the past 60-plus years, Malaysian politicians have been busy lavishly spending the rakyat’s money on themselves as their retirement pensions.

Malaysia enjoyed a brief moment of apparent wealth, so people did not ask questions about this nor were they allowed to.

It looks like all these acts, like the Official Secrets Act, were useful weapons to prevent people from finding out more about the highly paid status of politicians and ex-politicians.

Today, we are a country in dire straits.

We have high unemployment, ill-thought-out and unsustainable preferential policies that divide society, rampant corruption, a rapidly shrinking ringgit, a rapidly ageing society with no safeguards, inflation, weak welfare policies, rising B40 community, poor education, inadequate healthcare, concerns regarding growing extremism and so on.

This country is an absolute mess. At a time like this, politicians who insist that they must get paid huge pensions are working against the people and country.

The disparity in pensions and standards of living is another indication of a country that is sinking to third-world status.

To these politicians, what is the point of beating your chest on the hustings and then turning around and grabbing at whatever little resources the country has left?

What created such people of little conscience? Or are conscience and shame inconvenient and dispensable for politicians?

Bornean: The two simple images showing the comparison between an MP and a teacher and the other Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara members’ allowance had me fuming.

These unbalanced and unfair pensions and allowances have to go.

If the current government does not do anything, then I will throw my vote to the party that will remove the pensions after the next general election, even though we know after winning, they may not get to that. However, I would rather take the gamble.

Commenting has been disabled: You know what is sobering? Virtually no MP or elected representative came out in support of this survey.

This is the clearest evidence that virtually all of these MPs and elected representatives are self-serving.

Yes, including those from DAP and Amanah whom many of you consider as "righteous". All kept quiet.

The likes of former Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming came up with intellectually weak and outright nonsensical reasons for being against this.

Even PSM, the defender of the working class, is silent on this. That says a lot about PSM doesn't it?

Coward: Ironically, I think if the compensation and benefits package is not that lucrative, we might get better MPs, as this would deter people who are in it for the money and will do anything to be elected.

The lack of these generous benefits might even encourage meritocracy among politicians.

Sounds familiar?

We cannot directly compare MPs with the civil service.

To become an MP involves putting one's career or current occupation on hold, and this can be disadvantageous if this person's stint as a politician goes on for a long time.

Being an MP can also be a short-term, insecure job. They have to be compensated for that, just not disproportionally compared to other professions.

Anonymous_3f4b: Will the politicians both from the government and opposition heed Malaysiakini’s survey or as they say in layperson's language, ‘make don’t know’?

Why would they want to jeopardise their current perks, allowances, benefits and pensions just because of the views of Malaysiakini readers?

They will continue to fleece the country's coffers when they have the opportunity. That is the principle, ethics and ethos of Malaysian politics and its politicians.

Headhunter: What more proof do they want that Malaysians in general think they don't deserve to receive such a proportionately high pension for the relatively short service and work they do?

They claim they are not government servants but reward themselves only after five years of service, which even the most senior and lifelong service civil servant can only dream of.

Personally, my nearly eight years of serving the government didn't even earn me a single sen in terms of a pension after I resigned.

Cakap lain bikin lain: This country is in debt of up to RM1.5 trillion. So where does this money for pension payments come from? Is the government borrowing from banks or the Employees Provident Fund (EPF)?

So, the freeloaders don't contribute to EPF but their pensions, salaries and allowances come from our EPF.

Isn't that the perfect scam? Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim sounded pathetic, pleading to MPs to take only one pension.

Why don't Pakatan Harapan parties lead the way and choose only one pension?

Jacksw: Years ago, they said that we should pay our elected representatives high salaries like they do in Singapore to prevent corruption.

Now we see everything, while our politicians are well paid with great benefits as well.

However, many of them are non-performing and some are corrupt as well. What went wrong? It is all due to our leaders' mindsets.

Fat Tiger: Based on some of the quality of MPs' things that come out of their mouth, including those in government, the current pension scheme is very generous.

They are cutting subsidies, so why not cut this pension scheme as well?

You can’t ask people to tighten their belts when you are unable and unwilling to do the same thing yourself.

Letdown 2018: No one will give up a right that has been accorded. Just like bumiputera status and the New Economic Policy (NEP), politicians will not give up their vulgar pensions as they have been accorded this benefit by themselves.

So, this Malaysian concept is just another political war cry, nothing else. There are no stupid politicians, only stupid voters.

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