Speaking at a NTUC event for training programmes, former PAP Minister Lim Boon Heng said Singaporeans should work “as long as possible” but don’t expect the same pay.
“We should work for as long as we are able to work, and want to work, although we should not expect the same pay.”
The former PAP Minister said that things are not like in the past and he recounted in the 1980s that when he proposed people should work past the age of 55, he was scolded by his peers:
“In the 1980s, I was scolded by union leaders for proposing that they work longer. At that time, the retirement age was 55.”
The propaganda telling people to work to their grave is carried by state media Straits Times. Straits Times added an unsubstantiated survey conducted in 2016 claiming that “the majority” of those who reach retirement age would want to continue working.
Lim Boon Heng said that Singaporeans don’t know what is life like after retirement and that they realise they actually couldn’t afford to retire after all. The former PAP cadre then said Singaporeans should continue working for “health benefits” and “purpose”:
“Not many people can look forward to see what life could be… When people reach retirement age, they look at their CPF savings, bank accounts and commitments, then they… ask if they can afford to retire. Some can, and some can even retire earlier, but many would still need to continue to work. Regardless of whether a person has financial reasons for working longer, doing so can give him health benefits, more resilience and a sense of purpose.”
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong used his single ruling party majority power to pass a new law, effecting July 2017, to change the re-employment age from 65 to 67. The CPF Board has however not announced the delay of CPF Withdrawal age yet, but is likely to do so as the withdrawal age tracks the re-employment age.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong controls all aspect of the country’s retirement fund. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) which controls the CPF interest rate is placed under the Prime Minister’s Office, and the access of the funding is by puppet president Tony Tan. Lee Hsien Loong himself sits as the Chairman of GIC, while his wife Ho Ching sits as the CEO of the country’s sovereign wealth fund company Temasek Holdings.