PUTRAJAYA: The retirement age for civil servants should be extended to 65, suggests Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
Urging the unity government to consider the move, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) said many civil servants who retired at the present mandatory age of 60 “still felt young and productive”.
She pointed out that for judges, the mandatory retirement age was 65 with an option to serve for another six months, while the limit was set at 70 in some Asean countries.
“Maybe the government should look at 65 years as the new retirement because many (who reach) 60 are still capable, and the proportion of 60-year-olds in the population is growing.
“Some other countries are moving to 65 and the government should study this. This is my personal view,” Azalina told reporters after handing out excellent service awards to her ministry staff members retiring this year.
The minister said the aim of extending the retirement age was to enable those who reached 60 to continue contributing while “still feeling young”.
A 2020 World Bank study projects that by 2044, 14% of Malaysia’s population will be over 65 years of age, rising to 20% by 2056.
The Statistics Department revealed that the average life expectancy of Malaysians in 2023 was 74 years of age.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) also reported that one in four Malaysians depleted their retirement savings within five years (of retirement).
Cuepacs, an umbrella group for civil service trade unions, had in 2015 proposed that the retirement age for public sector workers be extended to 62 to enable them to earn enough for their old age.
