Photo of soldiers at National Day Parade (NDP) Rehearsal 2015 in City Hall Tristan Tan/Shutterstock.com

Following Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s announcement on Sunday (18 August) that by 2030, the country will be raising the retirement and re-employment age to 65 and 70, respectively, the Ministry of Home Affairs told CNA on Tuesday (20 August) that uniformed officers are exempted from this because of the “stringent demands of uniformed jobs”.
It added that these demands include a high fitness level, agility and capability to endure physical strain in potential life-threatening and unforeseeable environments.
Currently, the retirement age for these uniformed individuals stands at 55 years old.
However, MHA told its officers that a review will be conducted to look into the retirement age for uniformed officers and the results will be out “in the next several months”.
“MHA periodically reviews the retirement age for Home Affairs uniformed officers to ensure that we are able to meet the manpower requirements of the Home Team, taking into consideration changes in life expectancy and years of healthy living, as well as the ability and desire of our officers to work longer,” the ministry explained.
In 2013, MHA increased the retirement age of junior officers under the Home Affairs uniformed services from 50 to 55, exactly the same as senior officers.
MHA noted, “The Home Team also re-employs uniformed officers, subject to performance, conduct and fitness criteria. We will continue to offer re-employment to as many officers as possible, subject to organisational needs”.
On the other hand, MHA also informed that 3,800 civilian officers in the Home Team are subjected to the Retirement and Re-employment Act. It added that it will work with the Public Service Division (PSD) to gradually up their retirement and re-employment ages.
This news was raised after the PSD said on Monday that it will increase the retirement and re-employment ages for its officers by a year to 63 and 68, respectively, in July 2021.

‘Relevant’ retirement age in the SAF

CNA reported that the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) noted that the military retirement ages “remain relevant today”.
“As a military with physical demands required to fulfil its mission, the Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) retirement ages for military personnel range from 50 for officers, up to 55 for warrant officers and specialists, and up to 60 years old for military experts,” MINDEF said.
It added, “These military retirement ages remain relevant today. They balance the time required to acquire ground experience and expertise against the physical demands of a military career and the SAF’s operational considerations.”
If that is not all, both SAF and MINDEF regularly review the retirement ages in order to “ensure that the SAF’s operational requirements are met”.
In a Parliamentary reply in January, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen stressed that officers and other ranks of personnel in the SAF do not follow the retirement age of commercial companies and civilian originations, emphasising that the SAF is a military with physical demands.
“However, the shorter career spans within the SAF is made up by higher remuneration packages compared to equivalent civilian jobs. In addition, the SAF has specific programmes to prepare personnel for their second careers. Eighty per cent secure jobs within six months of retiring from the SAF,” he explained.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

Here to provide a listening ear

Introduction When Andrew, Chief Editor of The Online Citizen,  asked me to…

PM Lee: Not practical for Singapore to reach zero net emissions by 2050, aims to do it in second half of 21st century

In an interview with a newspaper down under called The Australian, Prime…

个人代步工具充电时着火 公寓180居民自动疏散

大年初二,个人代步工具故障再次让民居引来火祝。 在农历新年的第二天清晨,后港一栋公寓单位发生火患,该公寓的180居民自动紧急疏散。 新加坡民防部队(SCDF)于周日(1月26日)在其脸书专页帖文指出,当局于当天清晨5时50分接获来自Buangkok Green 第5座公寓一单位发生火患的投报,立刻前往营救。 当局出动了一把水射枪,及时将单位内卧室里的大火扑灭,但是卧室内的物品已经被烧毁。 两人有轻度烧伤和呼吸困难问题,但是他们在当场接受医护人员当场治疗后,都拒绝入院。 “初步调查显示,火患是由个人代步工具失火所引起的,该代步工具的电池在充电时起火。” 根据当局所分享的图片中,可见一间被烧毁的卧室,甚至外墙都熏黑一片。 民防部队也提供了个人代步工具的充电提示,希望能够提高使用者的警惕性。

Nobel Prize-winning economist cites Li Shengwu’s “Credible Mechanisms” as 2018’s most significant economics research paper

A paper co-authored by Harvard University’s Economics associate professor Li Shengwu was…