Singapore's Official Retirement Age To Be Extended

The Straits Times makes me cringe. The subtlety of their propagandising is so lacking that it makes the hairs on my arms stand. I mean, really. The hairs literally stood up, as I read the article below.

ST Jan 15, 2011
Singaporeans welcome new retirement age of 65

EVERYONE looks forward to retirement, but many Singaporeans still feel capable of working beyond the age of 62, so many rejoiced at the government's recent announcement of lifting the retirement age to 65.

Singaporeans "welcome" the new retirement age? They "rejoiced" at this?

Where are the parties? Where are the celebrations? Where are the big balloons and waving flags and smiling happy faces? Where, at least, are the survey results to show that Singaporeans are happy with their retirement age being stretched to 65?

They don't exist. All the Straits Times did was scurry around for to find a few people to interview. The journalist managed to find a grand total of two Singaporeans, who would say something moderately nice about working in your old age.

Based on that, the Straits Times boldly declares that "Singaporeans Welcome New Retirement Age at 65"! And that we are "rejoicing". Owwww. Down, my hairs, down.

Ramesh Prakash Sharma, 66, is so good at his job that when he turned 62, he was given a promotion instead of being asked to retire. His company Qioptiq, an optics manufacturing company, made him a Technical Mentor to show younger employees the ropes. He says: 'I love my job. Optic is in my blood.'

Under the new Retirement and Re-employment Act passed in Parliament on Tuesday, employees who turn 62 will now be given the option to work for another three years. The new re-employment law will be in place from January 2012 and will affect some 20,000 workers.

Another gainfully employed sexagenarian is Elizabeth Hendriks, a 63-year-old steward with Fairmont Singapore who has never missed a day of work in her 13 years with the organisation.

She says she is happy with her job as it keeps her active, and she has only taken 2 days of medical leave in the last 5 years.

Come to think of it, neither Ramesh nor Elizabeth (as quoted above) actually said that they welcomed the government's new policy. Instead both just said that they love their own jobs.

I guess the Straits Times could not actually find any Singaporean who would say, 'Yes, I welcome the official extension of the retirement age to 65, and I rejoice in this!".

Most Singaporeans probably do understand the real significance of the retirement age extension. Later it will just become a political excuse to further delay the full withdrawal of your own CPF savings.