A Pensioner & Goodies from "Kay Pa"...

19th May 2008

A time for reflections and look back on how it has been to be a "thoroughbred" Pensioner...

Yup, since my retirement in 2000 or more affectionately known at that time as the year Y2K, I have gone through a lot.

Before the day for my retirement came, I was literally counting the days...that becoz the working life of a teacher was turning into a nightmare made up of meetings & meetings of all sorts, including post-mortems of all functions held, combined with lots & lots of paperwork! Teaching in the classroom appeared to have faded into the background. What was given prominence then was how a teacher prepared his Record Book, what he wrote inside and how he had been contributing to the school environment in his free time besides his external activities. Not the actual teaching. So when the day came for my retirement, I really heaved a huge sigh of relief! And guess what? It even showed in my following medical exam...my BP reading was the best ever, namely NORMAL!! Phew!

Most of my colleagues who retired earlier or at abt the same time as me, had applied for contractual teaching...open to retirees for another 2 years. There were also a few private offers of jobs of a different nature. But, after consultation with fmly members & deep thought-over, it was felt that the extra $$ would not be worth it...an advantage maybe materialistically but definitely not for my personal well-being & peace of mind that I've yearned for all these long years. And, so from that day, me was a 100% retireee & pensioner!!

Well, apart from being kinda limited in the flow of funds (a pensioner has only half his last paid salary as his monthly income), a retiree & esp a pensioner is completely free of all stress and pressures of a working life. No deadlines to reach, no targets to achieve and esp NO one to answer to...except to God Himself...

In my case, as both me & my other half are pensioners, it just boils down to as though only one of us is the only breadwinner...2 for the "price" of one...so to say. And the best part of our retired lives is that our pensions had not been "idle". We have been enjoying little "presents" from our previous govt under Dr M. There was a 10% adjustment in our pensions when those still in service were given a payrise, coupled with a couple of annual "bonuses" of RM200 each.

However, none could beat the recent 25% adjustment in 2007 made possible by a marked revision in salaries of civil servants! That came, just in the nick of time, for the worldwide increase in fuel, food prices & other goods and services. Pak Lah is considered by many civil servants and pensioners as a "great kay pa"...a rare (probably unheard of) boost by a govt for its civil servants & pensioners! Like as if he could predict what was in store for the country...

And, on 10th May 2008, at the Majlis Perhimpunan Hari Pekerja Sektor Awam 2008 ( Workers' Day Rally of Civil Servants), our "Kay Pa" made another great announcement...one with many goodies for the presently employed civil servants as well as specific ones for pensioners. The one that is going to be welcomed by ppl like me, namely pensioners, is :

”... kerajaan bersetuju untuk menghitung pencen mengikut formula berasaskan tempoh perkhidmatan sehingga maksimum 30 tahun bagi semua pesara dan penerima pencen berkuatkuasa 1 Januari 2009. Sebelum ini, pencen pegawai perkhidmatan awam dihitung dengan mengambilkira tempoh perkhidmatan sehingga maksimum 25 tahun. Dasar baru ini juga meliputi persaraan dan kematian dalam perkhidmatan sebelum tarikh kuatkuasa. Walau bagaimanapun kadar pencen yang dihitung semula akan dibayar mulai 1 Januari 2009 tanpa bayaran tunggakan."

In short, the above means that pensions would be effectively calculated based on a max of 30 years of service. Instead of the former 25 years only policy. Well, both of us qualified as we had served for MORE than 30 years! To be exact, me & my other half served 429 mths & 329 mths respectively.
And what does that mean? It means a further 20% increase in our pensions! That would certainly go a long way to fight inflationary effects by 2009 as it would be implemented wef 1st Jan 2009. Pls see extract below...

Menghitung pencen mengikut formula berasaskan tempoh perkhidmatan sehingga maksimum 30 tahun.
Formula pengiraan pencen berasaskan tempoh perkhidmatan sehingga maksimum 30 tahun merangkumi juga mereka yang telah bersara sebelum 1 Julai 2008 dan kadar baru hanya akan dibayar pada 1 Januari 2009 tanpa tunggakan.
Dasar baru ini tidak memberi kesan kepada mereka yang mempunyai tempoh perkhidmatan yang boleh dimasukira tiga ratus (300) bulan atau kurang.
Contoh 1 : Pegawai mempunyai tempoh perkhidmatan yang boleh dimasukira selama 365 bulan dengan gaji akhir sebanyak RM2000.00 :
Pencen pada 31.12.2008
300 bulan/600 x RM2000.00 = RM1000.00 sebulan

Pencen mulai 1.1.2009
360 bulan/600 x RM2000.00 = RM1200.00 sebulan

(*) Pegawai yang mempunyai tempoh perkhidmatan yang boleh dimasukira selama 300 bulan atau lebih akan menerima tambahan 20% daripada pencen yang dihitung mengikut dasar lama.
Contoh 2 : Pegawai mempunyai tempoh perkhidmatan yang boleh dimasukira selama 322 bulan dan gaji akhir yang diterima ialah RM2000.00
Pencen pada 31.12.2008
300 bulan /600 x RM2000.00 = RM1000.00 sebulan

Pencen mulai 1.1.2009
322 bulan/600 x RM2000.00 = RM1073.33 sebulan

NB. Above quotes are taken from http://www.jpapencen.gov.my/

Although it's a bit early to be counting our chickens before they are hatched but as is, A BIG Thank You...to our kind & understanding "Kay Pa"... Life as a pensioner had never been this good...& rewarding...

Come January 2009, we would certainly know if those chickens are in our baskets or not...hehe...

In the meantime, it certainly is a nice thought & a dream of things to come! Sweet dreams...