Hope Yet For Bonus!

What a disappointing 2008 National Budget it was for the 1.2 million civil servants in Malaysia when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi (popularly known as Pak Lah) presented it in Parliament this evening (pic). Sitting next to him is Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (son of Malaysia's 2nd Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak who died in 1976.)

For the first time since 1993 (when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was Prime Minister), there was no announcement of bonus in the budget. But there is HOPE yet for the public officials - Najib told reporters afterwards that any bonus may not necessarily be revealed only during the tabling of budget. (Pak Lah apparently left Parliament House without speaking to the Press after delivering the budget.)

"It is needless for everything to be anounced in the budget. If there is anything else that we (the government) feel is reasonable, the government can consider and announce at some other time.

"As such, the budget is not the cut-off point for whatever the government does," he stated.

Asked whether there was hope yet for civil servants to get a bonus this year, he said: "Wait, just wait."

Najib's statement has given the government staff new hope. They now hope that a bonus, whatever the quantum, would be announced before the annual Hari Raya Aidil Fitri (also known as Hari Raya Puasa) which Muslims celebrate after fasting for a month. This year, fasting begins mid-September and the festivity (2 days of public holidays) will be on in mid-October. The majority of Malaysia's civil servants are Muslims.

"At worst, we hope that it would be announced before Christmas in late December. Though Christians civil servants are in the minority, an added excuse will be that the bonus will be timely because parents will have a heavy burden when schools reopen in January," a government officer pointed out.

The non-inclusion of the bonus in today's budget, however, was not totally unexpected as Malaysia's civil servants just had a salary increase in July which Najib pointed out caused the government an extra RM8 billion. (Slightly over US$2 billion) Another possible reason, an analyst said, is that with the recent salary raise the cost of living has also increased which is not fair to those in the private sector as they had no pay rise. "So can you imagine if a bonus is announced so soon after the raise, it will become worse," he warned.

Traditionally, the civil servants would get an annual bonus of between half-a-month to a month of their basic salaries; with a record one-and-a-half month at one time when the Malaysian economy was at its peak. But whatever it is, whether it's half month or one month, a civil servant is confident that it will be paid or at least announced before the next election expected between the end of this year and early next year.

This is because the government cannot afford to antagonize the more than one million civil servants which if their families were included would translate into at least between 2 to 3 million precious votes. Although the civil servants had a salary raise in July, they would probably have forgotten it by the time election is held as "man's memory is short while his desire can never be satisfied", the civil servant pointed out.

"If and when the bonus is finally announced, you will know election has arrived," the civil servant concluded, succinctly.

Meanwhile, another disappointment for civil servants, especially those retiring soon, in the 2008 Budget was the fact that Pak Lah also did not announce the extension of the retirement age for them. It had been widely speculated over the last few months that the PM would announce it today, especially after he failed to do so at the Labour (or Workers') Day gathering attended by thousands of civil servants in May.

Malaysian civil servants used to retire at the age of 55 until a few years ago when it was extended by a year to 56. Many believe that this was among the legacies left behind by the former British colonial government which ruled Malaya until 1957 and Sabah and Sarawak (in east Malaysia, on Borneo island) until 1963. The popular theory is that the expatriate officers purposely set the retirement age at such a young age so that when they went home to Britain they would still be fit enough to enjoy life! By comparision, Malaysian civil servants' counterparts in most neighbouring countries retire at 60 or even beyond.

Malaysian civil servants now hope that the government would announce the extension of retirement age latest by the next Workers' Day gathering in May 2008. Or, just like the bonus, latest by election time?