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Military retirees
angry about bonuses
CHANGE OF FACE? The retirees criticized the
government for its changing stance on the payments, but sources said officers
already receive bonuses from the MND
By Lo Tien-pin and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A number of retired military personnel yesterday said they were in favor of
hitting the streets to protest against the government’s plan to cut annual
year-end payments for retirees as some criticized the government, likening it to
an actor in the traditional Sichuan opera, which is known for its flawless
mask-changing techniques.
The government is like the traditional Sichuan opera actor that has one face on
one moment, and a different one the next, so people do not have trust in the
government, the retired military personnel said while attending a meeting of the
Central Military Academy’s Main Alumni Committee.
The government appears to be vacillating in its stance regarding the annual
year-end payments for retired government employees.
Public outrage mounted recently after it was revealed that the government was
spending NT$20 billion (US$683 million) annually to issue year-end “bonuses”
equal to 1.5 month’s salary to 423,000 retired military personnel, civil
servants and public school teachers.
Under public pressure, Premier Sean Chen (陳?) decided late last month to limit
recipients of the payment to specific groups: retirees on monthly pensions of
less than NT$20,000 and those forced into retirement by job-related injury,
along with dependents of those killed in the line of duty. The policy will be
reviewed on a yearly basis, he later added.
On Friday, amid rising discontent among government retirees over the decision to
cut their year-end pension benefits, Chen said he was open to suggestions on the
matter.
Many present at the meeting yesterday said they had been disappointed by the
decision by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to suspend the
payments, adding that they would not rule out joining a military retiree
organization in Taoyuan that has said it would protest, or making their
discontent known to Ma during the New Year flag-raising ceremony.
Many said they would be seriously considering whether they would still be voting
for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the next major election.
Former Army General Command Headquarters vice commander-in-chief Chia Fu-yi
(賈輔義) said it was acceptable to review benefits for retired civil servants,
military personnel and public school teachers in a reasonable manner.
However, the three groups in question felt that they were not respected during
the debate, he said, adding: “In a time when heroes aren’t respected, there
won’t be any more heroes.”
However, while the retired military personnel were unhappy with the government’s
plan to restrict the annual year-end payments, sources familiar with the matter
said that aside from the year-end “bonus,” the Ministry of National Defense (MND)
has also budgeted a Lunar New Year bonus for ranking military retirees, with
lieutenant generals and major generals receiving NT$10,000 (US$341), three-star
generals receiving NT$20,000 and four-star generals receiving NT$30,000.
The military retirees are taking a mile from the inch they had been given, the
sources said.
In response, the ministry said that it budgeted the fund in line with the
practice of giving cash bonuses to civil servants, military personnel and public
school teachers every Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat
Festival, adding that it would cut the bonuses if the civil servants, military
personnel and public school teachers’ funding were slashed.
However, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) said that not
every retired general or military personnel had taken the Lunar New Year gift
money offered by the ministry.
In 2010, NT$2.1 million of the money was not claimed by retired generals or
military personnel and NT$4.8 million was not claimed last year, Hsueh said.
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