Pensioners Plan Mammoth Rally Against Govt S Legal Challenge

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Some of the former service personnel gathered at the veterans’ affairs department recently to seek clarification on how their pensions are calculated.
PETALING JAYA: A group of pensioners, including former servicemen, are planning a mammoth gathering in April to protest against the government’s decision to challenge a High Court order to revise and backdate their pensions.
The group’s spokesman Rafique Ahmad Nordin said they aimed to get 10,000 pensioners and veterans to demand that the government implement the court order.
On Jan 16 a High Court judge held that pensioners were entitled to revised pensions arising from a 2016 circular, and ordered the government to make payments within three months.
Rafique, a retired navy officer, said the rally is tentatively set for April 19. He said there had been no response to a request for a meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the pensioners were disappointed that the Attorney-General’s Chambers had filed a notice of appeal against the court decision.
Rafique said the group was also upset that the government had no issue in backdating the pensions for retired judges which they were informed ranged from RM200,000 to RM400,000.
“We want an explanation,” he told FMT.
The Edge recently quoted a senior official from the Attorney-General’s Chambers as confirming that the former judges received their pension arrears and revisions in November.
The pensions for former judges arose from a new salary scheme implemented in 2015. However, those who retired before that year received pensions based on the previous basic wages.
A legal challenge by former judge Ian Chin Hon Chong resulted in him being awarded compensation of RM301,768 being the shortfall in the pension paid to him between July 2015 and February 2022.
Rafique said the decision to rectify the judges’ remuneration system but ignoring the others was a blatant form of discrimination against the lower income pensioners who had contributed greatly to national development.
He said the new civil service remuneration system implemented in December did not follow the law which says pensions must be adjusted each time a salary revision is carried out. - FMT

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