The military welfare NGO Pahlawan will organise a nationwide roadshow in 14 days’ time if the Defence Ministry does not take heed of its petition calling for improvements to the welfare of retirees from the army, police and firefighting forces.
“Should the roadshow take place, we will collect signatures from every army, police and firefighting retiree and present them as a memorandum to the nation’s Field Marshal, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and other Malay rulers,” Pahlawan president Asri Buang said at a press conference today.
The main proposal mooted by Pahlawan to the federal government and Defence Ministry is to increase the pensions of former army personnel, in coordination with the salary hikes of the current army personnel.
Asri also commented on last month’s announcement by Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein on the salary hike for Armed Forces personnel.
Hishammuddin was on Feb 15 reported as saying that RM58.89 million has been allocated as part of a salary hike for Malaysian Armed Forces personnel from July 1 onwards.
He also said that Armed Forces veterans, whose service has ended or will end from Jan 1, 2013 to June 30, 2016, will get a one-off payment, totalling RM56.62 million.
“But what about the other army veterans?” Asri (photo) asked.
“In order to safeguard the nation during the Emergency, we left our families behind for a long periods of time,” added Asri with pride, pointing out that he had served the army during the communist insurgency from 1972 to 1979.
“Just like today’s soldiers, we sacrificed time away from our beloved families to protect the country against communist insurgency,” said Asri.
“I suggest that retired generals be awarded pensions of RM3,500 a month, which is half of what in-service generals are currently earning.
“The current highest monthly pension received among our group is RM1,600 while our lowest draws RM700 a month, with a two percent yearly increment,” the war veteran said.
Other proposals mooted at today’s press conference are for the Defence Ministry to provide up to RM6,000 as yearly compensation to retired personnel who did not opt for the pension scheme.
According to current laws, a retiree’s widow can claim the monthly pension, starting from the day of her husband’s first pension release, for a duration of 20 years.
Pahlawan also hopes that army retirees who were disabled in action would be able to claim their well-deserved ex-gratia payments, regardless of their years of service.
“We have never been aligned with any political entities. We are fighting for the rights of the country’s army veterans.
“That’s all we (Pahlawan) want,” said Asri wistfully.
After years of dodging savage enemy bullets in the jungles and defending Malaysia from foreign insurgences, that’s all he and his fellow living legends want: to spend their remaining years in peace and comfort with their loved ones, he added. -Mkini
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