Disappointed by the prime minister’s rejection of its proposal to raise the retirement age to 65 years, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has called on him to come up with alternative solutions to overcome problems faced by retires.

MTUC secretary-general J Solomon expressed regret that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad rejected the proposal without any study being done and before listening to the workers’ side of the story.

“We regret Mahathir chose to reject it outright, without offering any counter suggestions to tackle the related problems like low and insufficient minimum wage, the rising cost of living and low EPF savings...