Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) will meet the director-general of the Public Service Department (PSD) Ismail Adam this month to request consideration on the implementation of the optional retirement regulation.

Cuepacs president Omar Osman said the discussion was to get further clarification from PSD on the matter after many queries on the new regulation that involved 1.2 million civil servants.

He said Cuepacs also was surprised when questioned by its members on the matter as the PSD did not discuss it with the body.

"It is difficult for us to explain the matter as we did not know of it... some people think that we proposed it to the government," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Omar was commenting on a PSD circular of Jan 25 on the optional retirement being approved on the condition that applicants agree to be paid 20 per cent of their gratuity or RM10,000, whichever is higher, on retirement beginning Feb 1.

Omar said the 20 per cent of gratuity or RM10,000 was not enough for retirees to live on while waiting for their pension.

"Earlier we did not have problems as the gratuity was enough to live on while waiting for pension...but now there is no meaning to optional retirement if we receive just RM10,000," he said.

He said he did not want that due to the regulation civil servants, especially in the medium and lower group, borrowed from Ah Longs to live on.

Omar said the government should understand the problems of civil servants as most who apply for optional retirement did not do so for personal reasons but due to various living difficulties.

"If the government gave 50 per cent of the gratuity, that would be better, for example if the gratuity is RM80,000 the person gets RM40,000.

"What's there to do with RM10,000, it will finish in one hour. So we ask the government to review the matter," he said.

- Bernama