PENSIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 5.02 p.m.

The Minister for Finance (Mr Hon Sui Sen): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Presently, the annual NWC awards are not pensionable under the Pensions Act (Cap. 55). Therefore, officers who are superannuated under the Pensions Scheme cannot have the annual NWC awards included in the computation of their pensions unless the awards are already consolidated into salaries. They are at a disadvantage compared with those non-pensionable officers who are on the full CPF Scheme whose total emoluments, including the annual NWC awards, attract full CPF benefits.

The first-tier annual NWC awards supplement wages and salaries should properly be treated as part of such wages and salaries. These awards can only be consolidated into salaries once in four or five years because of the massiveness of each consolidation exercise. Pensionable officers who retire in between consolidation exercises therefore lose out.

This inequity should be removed. This can only be done by amending the Pensions Act. The purpose of the Pensions (Amendment) Bill is to make pensionable the first-tier annual NWC awards which have not been consolidated into salaries. This change is intended to take effect from 1st January 1982.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

Mr Ho See Beng: Mr Speaker, Sir, I welcome the Government's move to make NWC wage increases pensionable. This is a move in the right direction. This move also shows that Government has the concern for its employees when they retire, and this is in line with the Government's policy of promoting Confucian ethics - to care and respect our senior citizens who have contributed to our country and community when they worked as civil servants.

In this connection, Sir, may I ask the Minister this question: since Government is going to make NWC wage increases pensionable, whit about the Annual Wage Supplement? Why has this Annual Wage Supplement been left out?

Mr Sia Khoon Seong: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill. Serving officers in the Civil Service, particularly those who are due to retire, will find this Bill a welcome move by the Minister for Finance as they now can look forward to an enhanced quantum of gratuity and monthly pension allowances because the NWC allowances are made pensionable and therefore included in the computation of pensions and gratuities with effect from 1st January 1982. This move (to make NWC allowances pensionable) by the Minister of Finance shows that once in a while, his Ministry is capable of acts of understanding and generosity. On this occasion, I therefore find nothing but praise and support for the Finance Minister for this enlightened move over a matter concerning the pension rights of civil servants. Unfortunately, I cannot find many occasions like this to heap praise on the Minister for Finance. I, together with others, have yet to convince the Finance Minister, for example, over the payment, even part payment, on a pro-rata basis of the 13th month allowance to civil servants in the year of their retirement.

Coming back to the Bill before the House, can I seek a clarification from the Finance Minister whether he would consider making this Bill retrospective to the year when NWC allowances were first introduced, so that officers who retired earlier but whose NWC allowances were not included in the computation of their pensions and gratuities, could have their pensions and gratuities re-computed so that they too can benefit from this move of making the NWC allowances pensionable.

Can I also take this opportunity to ask the Minister for Finance whether he would consider the payment of the first tier NWC allowance on the monthly pension allowance of pensioners. It is a well known fact that the pensioners are finding the value of their pension allowances diminishing because of the continuous trend of high inflation rate in recent years and in the foreseeable future. Many pensioners are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Many of them have to continue working to keep their body and soul together. Those who work are those who are still physically fit and can find employment. Not all are fortunate enough to find suitable employment or physically fit to continue with employment. Even those who are employed now, realize that sooner or later, they too must go on in life without employment.

In the past, one of the main attractions for joining the Civil Service was the pension rights. They were supposed to give security to a retired civil servant until his death. But because the pension benefits have remained the same, and have not been revised to keep up with the growing increase in the cost of living, the pension rights are not considered as an attraction for serving in the Civil Service. It is time the Government did something for the pensioners. For a start, I suggest pay the first tier NWC allowance on the pension allowance.

Mr Hon Sui Sen: Mr Speaker, Sir, as a pensioner myself I am always sympathetic to all the representations made on their behalf but there are principles in the Ministry of Finance which prevent retrospective effect being given to many of the changes we made. It is not very easy if we went back to the first date when NWC allowances were made. Why should we stop at that particular date? Why not go back to 1959 when the First Deputy Prime Minister was made a pensioner? His pension is now considered to be somewhat derisory. In the same way my own pension goes back to 1965 or 1966. On the other hand, of course, the Minister of Defence has had consolidated salaries calculated for his pension, and therefore he enjoys a much better pension. I think the principle of the Treasury is that if a decision is made it takes effect from that date or the first of the month following. So I am afraid that it would not be possible for me to make this NWC allowance calculation retrospective from the date when it was first granted.

As regards the other suggestion by the Member for Moulmein, it is also difficult for revision of pensions to give a greater allowance for pensioners. I think we do what we can from time to time for the hardest hit of the pensioners, and we have revised the allowance (called the New Singapore Allowance) over the years. As to when we will make the next revision, of course, we always have in mind from time to time when circumstances make it necessary for us to revise. Beyond that I do hot think the Government can afford to revise the pensions. For example, in the case of the most recent pensioners, if we add the NWC first tier on, they may end up almost as well as if they had remained in the civil service.

Mr Sia Khoon Seong: Mr Speaker, Sir -

Mr Speaker: Mr Sia, may I remind you of Standing Order 44? You are allowed to speak only once to a question and no more.

Mr Sia Khoon Seong: I just want to make a small point.

Mr Speaker: I am sorry.

Mr Ho See Beng rose -

Mr Speaker: And you too, Mr Ho.

Mr Ho See Beng: But the Minister has not answered my question.

Mr Speaker: All right, Mr Ho.

Mr Ho See Beng: The answer to the Annual Wage Supplement has not been given.

Mr Hon Sui Sen: Sir, the Annual Wage Supplement is not a pensionable allowance and will not be a pensionable allowance. There is provision for any allowances to be declared pensionable, but I do not think it is the intention of the Treasury that the AWS will be made pensionable. It is not even considered to be awarded to people who retire during the year. So I think it will be inconsistent if I make the AWS pensionable.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Hon Sui Sen].

Bill considered in Committee.

5.14 p.m.

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Clause 1 -

The Chairman: The citation year will be altered from "1981" to "1982".

A further alteration is necessary:

In page 1, line 4, after "shall" to insert "be deemed to have".

This is purely a grammatical correction necessitated by the lapse of time.

Clause 1 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.