Notice our claims, urge military veterans

SHAH ALAM - Hundreds of armed forces veterans gathered at Tugu Negara (National Monument) in Kuala Lumpur today in hopes that their demand for the military pension system be reviewed. Retired Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officer Major Mior Rosli brought up three main claims to the government this morning.

"Firstly, pension adjustment where it is not a according to our regulation and law.

"Second, in our term of service, those who retired less than 21 years are not eligible to receive pension.

"Third, members who have been discharged under disciplinary issues does not receive a single cent from the government and this is what we've been fighting for the past eight years," he told Sinar Daily today.

Mior, who is the rally's organising committee deputy chairman, stressed that civilians received more benefits than armed forces.

Under the current system, he said most of the 300,000 military retirees were living in poor conditions and belonged to the Below 40 (B40) income group. "For civilians, they can get early retirement with pension even if they serve a mere 10 years whereas we go back home with nothing.

"Even worst, if you are not a veteran under the Veteran Act 2012, you and your family are not eligible for any aids or benefits from the government," he said.

It is believed that there are more than 25,000 members who have been dismissed from the Arm Forces under the disciplinary act.

Mior said the veterans hoped that today's peaceful assembly would be noticed by the government. Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim called for Senior Minister (Defence) Hishammuddin Hussein to uphold the rights of veterans.

In a Facebook posting, he said he had been following updates on the assembly by the veterans. "It is clear that they were left with no other option but to uphold their rights and air their grievances in this manner, after having failed to get the attention of the defence ministry,” he said. The Port Dickson MP said Pakatan Harapan MPs had repeatedly raised the issue of veterans’ pension in the Dewan Rakyat, urging Hishammuddin to resolve this issue immediately.

“Don’t ignore the voices of the army veterans who have sacrificed a lot for the country,” he added.

Earlier today, about 500 army veterans held a peaceful assembly at Tugu Negara this morning.

The veterans said they were left with no other option but to assemble peacefully after eight years of attempting to use the right channels to air their grievances on the issue of pensions.