HALF- MONTH BONUS

The Sun
By Farrah Naz Karim and Sean Augustine
news@nst.com.my



Early Raya gift of minimum RM500 for civil servants

PUTRAJAYA: All 1.27million civil servants in the country will be getting an early Hari Raya gift as the government will be making a half-month bonus payout soon.

The bonus, with a minimum payment of RM500, will be paid out in the middle of this month.

The 590,000 pensioners in the country will also not be left out as they will be getting a RM500 special payment at the same time before Hari Raya which is expected to fall on Aug 30.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the payouts were in appreciation of their contributions and dedication in successfully carrying out the country’s development plans.

“The government hopes this bonus and special payment will help lighten the burden of civil servants and pensioners as well as help them make preparations for the upcoming Hari Raya celebrations.

“This shows that the government is always concerned about the welfare of civil servants and pensioners.

“This bonus payout is a mark of the government’s appreciation of all civil servants,”Najib,who is also finance minister, said.

In a statement issued yesterday, Najib also said the payouts would cost the government RM2 billion. The news came as a pleasant surprise for General Operations Forces chief security supervisor Chief Inspector Che Samsudin Che Yusoff.

Hearing it first from the media, he said he did not see it coming at all.

“This will not only lighten the burden of my Hari Raya expenditure but will certainly make the celebration more meaningful for my whole family.” For Noorafida Pardi, 40, an auxiliary policewoman attached to Seri Perdana, the bonus would go a long way as it meant she could buy extra revision books for her son who was sitting the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia this year.

The single mother, whose salary was about RM1,300 per month, said with the gift she could also make Hari Raya special for her mother, who is also a single mother.

Malaysian Pensioners Association president Datuk Raja Wan Mahmood Pawanteh, when contacted, expressed appreciation to the government for considering the welfare of pensioner s.

This is the third consecutive year civil servants and pensioners are getting the bonus — after the payment in August last year and the 2009 payout made just before Hari Raya.

The last time the government issued a one-month salary or a minimum of RM1,000 bonus to public servants was in 2008 when the payout was staggered in September and December.

Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services president Datuk Omar Osman said Cuepacs was thankful that the government had made such a huge allocation to pay bonuses to civil servants.

It hoped the government would consider another round of bonus payout after the Budget presentation in October.

Omar said this would especially help the rank-and-file in the service, especially those with many school-going children.