Small pension increment would mean a lot
Like Mr Tan Kwong Moh (Give pensioners an increment too; Dec 20), I am also a pensioner, now aged 71.
I joined the Singapore Police Force when I was 19 in 1965 and served for 26 years until 1991.
We were paid $84 a month during our six-month training stint at the then Police Training School in Thomson Road.
When we completed the training, we were paid $135 per month.
I never looked at other jobs, which paid more, as I had a passion to serve.
Times were bad in those days but things were relatively cheap - a plate of char kway teow, mee rebus or mee goreng cost only 30 cents. A bus trip was five cents.
The 1960s was a tumultuous period.
Singapore faced Konfrontasi, or confrontation, waged by Indonesia.I recall being rostered to patrol the beaches for intrusion by Indonesians.
An increment of $30 in the Singapore Allowance for the pension would be a token sum, but would mean a lot to those who contributed to the nation's progress from Third World to First World status.
Also, there are not many pensioners around and most will likely be gone in a decade or two.
Neo Poh Goon
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/small-pension-increment-would-mean-a-lot
Like Mr Tan Kwong Moh (Give pensioners an increment too; Dec 20), I am also a pensioner, now aged 71.
I joined the Singapore Police Force when I was 19 in 1965 and served for 26 years until 1991.
We were paid $84 a month during our six-month training stint at the then Police Training School in Thomson Road.
When we completed the training, we were paid $135 per month.
I never looked at other jobs, which paid more, as I had a passion to serve.
Times were bad in those days but things were relatively cheap - a plate of char kway teow, mee rebus or mee goreng cost only 30 cents. A bus trip was five cents.
The 1960s was a tumultuous period.
Singapore faced Konfrontasi, or confrontation, waged by Indonesia.I recall being rostered to patrol the beaches for intrusion by Indonesians.
An increment of $30 in the Singapore Allowance for the pension would be a token sum, but would mean a lot to those who contributed to the nation's progress from Third World to First World status.
Also, there are not many pensioners around and most will likely be gone in a decade or two.
Neo Poh Goon
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/small-pension-increment-would-mean-a-lot