Debated in Parliament on 5 Aug 2019.
Mr Murali Pillai asked the Prime Minister in relation to persons who are receiving pensions from corporatised bodies of Government departments or statutory boards, whether the Government intends to procure these corporatised bodies' agreement to correspondingly increase the persons' pensions so that there will be parity between them and Government pensioners who will be receiving the Singapore Allowance and increases in the monthly pensions as announced in Budget 2019.
The pensions of Government pensioners who retired from the Civil Service are fixed based on their length of service and pensionable salary at the eve of their retirement. Government pensioners include pensionable officers who were transferred from the Civil Service to statutory boards and subsequently retired from the statutory boards.
The Government has given an ex-gratia Singapore Allowance since 1974 to help Government pensioners whose monthly pensions are below a gross monthly pension ceiling. The current Singapore Allowance quantum is $320 and the gross monthly pension ceiling is $1,250.
Corporatised entities are private firms. Retirees who continue to receive retirement benefits from private firms will follow the terms set out by these firms, which do not need to be the same as those provided to Government pensioners.
Retirees who receive retirement benefits from private firms may also be eligible for benefits, such as the Pioneer and Merdeka Generation Packages, that are given to all eligible Singaporeans. These benefits can help the elderly retirees cope with their expenses and would be paid out on top of any benefit their firms provide.
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