Dear Editor, THIS story has been bugging me for two decades.

It is about my mother’s wid ow pension from when my father died 30 years ago.

My father was a government officer for over 30 years with the Information Ministry.

He worked through the Japanese occupation, the Emer gency, and many other epis odes in Malaysia’s history.

His last posting was as a district information officer.

He died after a fall on duty and did not reach the retirement age of 55, which means there are no retirement bene fits, only a token living al lowance.

My mother, with her widow’s pension allowance of only RM280, managed to keep her family afloat with help from relatives.

One day, she decided to spend time overseas with her daughter that she hadn’t seen for 10 years.

Due to this, she was unable to make her monthly visit to the post office to collect the pen sion.

We were not aware that there was a government stipulation stating that if someone is abroad for more than three months, the pension is no longer valid.

There was no way to describe how sad my mother felt.

She now has to rely on her children for support as she has lost the pension which she had been using to sustain herself.

As I near retirement age my self, the issue still lingers and distresses my family.

It is not about the money, but about how society closes one eye on the needs of senior citizens.

When I look at her, I see a dissatisfied look in her eyes, as though she is questioning “Why did I lose that pension allowance? Because I went to visit my daughter? How stupid of me.”

I often wonder what could have been done.

I hope senior citizens in Malaysia will get a better deal.

I hope someone in the rel evant body can help reclaim what was taken away from my mother 20 years ago.

The sum she should have been entitled to over the years would have amounted to RM50,000.

It is not only about the money, but as an honour to her husband’s career with the government.

On behalf of a widow
Petaling Jaya

Source: Malay Mail – January 17, 2008