YOURSAY | 'Some just take free rides as a bonus for supporting bosses.'

Not all MPs on board with getting EPF instead of pensions

Headhunter: The pension is fair enough for those who served multiple terms and are hardworking. How about those who served only one term, with some still in their 20s?

If they served only one term and lived to be in their 80s, this means the rakyat has to pay their pension for an average of 50 to 60 years.

Calculate that to see how much burden that even future generations will have to pay. We are talking about millions for a single MP. And how many MPs do we have?

The best option is to structure it under the Employees Provident Fund scheme like private employees. The government could even pay for their contributions to EPF.

This way the public is not burdened with each generation taking care of their own financial burden. This means for those who served a single term, the taxpayers will pay their EPF for five years.

For those who served longer terms, taxpayers will pay according to the terms served. In other words, you get rewarded according to the years of service provided.

Not all MPs are hardworking. Some just go for a free ride as a bonus for supporting their bosses or betraying voters rather than for their potential contributions.

Some become billionaires through corruption or patronage. Some get positions on the board of government-linked companies and government institutions, earning more than one pension with juicy benefits in the process.

Look to other countries as to how they reward their MPs. Continuing with the current system is not an option.

BlueHorse9150: Perhaps, my math is wrong but EPF contribution is based on current salaries.

Ministers' salaries, I believe, are generally high which means that their EPF savings would also be high. They will still have their retirement fund via EPF as the latter itself is a form of investment.

Pension is an old-fashioned system to assist people with low civil service salaries and thus, could not afford investment or save much with EPF.

If ministers and MPs earned similar salaries to private sector employees, EPF is not that unreasonable and the more years you work, the more your EPF savings is.

I don’t want to touch too much on which is worst for the country's economy as I, being a social economist, would say, there are a lot of factors aside from GDP and welfare.

But most MPs and ministers have it easier to seek jobs other than winning elections and becoming elected representatives.

Not only are they given high-ranking positions in GLCs, but they are also given seats on boards of private firms.

Most of them have credentials and capabilities to do other jobs post-politics-retirement. I mean, even former Umno minister Khairy Jamaluddin has his own radio podcast.

Then there are personal businesses that are leveraged from their status, shares, houses and investments.

So, I am not too worried about MPs and ministers not having income post-politics-retirement.

Koel: Please provide a detailed explanation of what is being paid to MPs (breakdown of their salaries, allowances and benefits).

At the moment, we are getting bits and pieces of the issue. Is it true that there are various payouts for various positions held?

What do past PMs earn, for example? It is time the public understood these matters because it is public money.

Similarly, exactly how much are civil servants entitled to? There is a need to know, given the disgusting stories of inefficiency, incompetence and arrogance of some civil servants in dealing with the public.

Taxpayers and ratepayers are their source of remuneration. So, it is only fair that those who fund some of these incompetents be given a clear picture as to how much is paid out every year for such purposes.

Methink: It is supposed to be a privilege and honour to serve the people as a politician. Working hard, well, shouldn't one work hard at any profession?

Being a politician must never be used as a gateway to a cushy pension. Every politician started his working life in a different profession, with likely low pay and little perks.

That does not justify their multiple pensions once they become ministers, MPs or assemblypersons. It is not a job where you jump in straight after school.

Ministers, MPs and assemblypersons, if you believe you are entitled to multiple pensions, the rakyat will be glad to give you this if you work many times harder than the average Malaysian for the rakyat and nation.

My2cen: New government servants are given EPF, no? People's representatives are supposed to serve the people.

Candidates with political ambitions should go out to work first, get experience before running as people's representatives, to appreciate and offer solutions for the issues faced by us.

Why are we giving them a lifetime pension, blanket-free for all?

Review the pensions for the old-timers, those who have retired. Just implement this for the new MPs and assemblypersons.

Then they will appreciate the job we give them, and work hard to earn their pay and EPF.

MS: If the current state of the country - divided and diminished in every way, with a plummeting economy - is the collective result of the work of MPs across the board over the years, they need to be sacked dishonourably and made to pay for their non-performance impacting more than thirty million citizens.

Yes, I know they will hate to lose their perks, privileges, princely and definitely undeserved pensions.

Ordinary workers are judged and paid according to performance and the state of a company's finances.

Therefore, there is no reason why these fellows, whose behaviour was described by columnist R Nadeswaran as akin to those of simians, should be treated differently.

The swamp is waiting to be drained. The lives of Malaysians will not get any worse if the entire lot is purged.

A new "social contract" between parliamentarians and the people needs to be written such that only the best of Malaysians are allowed into the Dewan Rakyat and not any riff-raff as is the case today.

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