By law, public servants — military personnel, public-school teachers and civil servants — should receive a monthly pension after they retire. However, in practice — perhaps out of convenience, perhaps because government officials want to enrich themselves — retirees are allowed to draw six months of pension in advance on a half-yearly basis, which is out of keeping with the intention of the law.
In 2014, the Executive Yuan began paying monthly pensions, which could save the government NT$1 billion (US$31 million) in interest annually, but to cater to hardline Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters, then-premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) reversed the decision on the grounds that the monthly scheme would only save the government a limited amount of money.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) now holds a majority in the legislature and DPP legislators Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) and Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌) have proposed amendments to Article 11 of the Civil Servants Retirement Act (公務人員退休法) and Article 11 of the Statute Governing the Retirement of School Faculty and Staff (學校教職員退休條例), both of which stipulate that retirees must apply for monthly pensions in advance and can only receive the payments the following month instead of drawing six months of pension payments at once.
In addition to these proposals, here are some further suggestions:
First, a temporary measure that incorporates the principle of actuarial equivalent should be introduced. Since pensions have long been issued on a half-yearly basis, it is difficult to ask retirees to draw pensions on a monthly basis. The government could emulate how other nations are going about this and, for example, give retirees the option of drawing pensions every month, every three months or every six months.
The overriding principle is that of actuarial equivalent. For instance, if the legal monthly pension is NT$50,000, after taking the principle of actuarial equivalent into account, the three-month pension could be NT$49,000 per month and the half-yearly pension NT$48,000 per month. The differences between these numbers are the differences in interest generated from the different schemes and the repayment that arises should a retiree pass away.
Second, the public servants’ pension scheme can be incorporated into overall pension reform. Since pension reform is one of the incoming administration’s five major plans to ensure social stability, the public servants’ “monthly” scheme should be included, as it is not the only thing that runs counter to fairness and justice.
For example, retired public servants enjoy the 18 percent preferential interest rate on part of their savings, can work in another job while still collecting a pension and receiving holiday bonuses, and their spouses can receive half of the pension after the retiree dies.
The last example is perhaps one reason young foreign women marry older veterans or public servants, as they can receive half of their husbands’ pension when they become widows.
Although the law has been amended in recent years, this scheme is more akin to social welfare and defies the spirit of a professional pension.
Since public servant pensions are a professional pension, they are different from the civil servant and military insurance and must conform to the spirit of the different systems, so that all systems and options are fair. This would make pension reform meaningful in terms of social resource distribution.
James Lin is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries in the US.
Translated by Ethan Zhan
I came to Taiwan to pursue my degree thinking that Taiwanese are “friendly,” but I was welcomed by Taiwanese classmates laughing at my friend’s name, Maria (瑪莉亞). At the time, I could not understand why they were mocking the name of Jesus’ mother. Later, I learned that “Maria” had become a stereotype — a shorthand for Filipino migrant workers. That was because many Filipino women in Taiwan, especially those who became house helpers, happen to have that name. With the rapidly increasing number of foreigners coming to Taiwan to work or study, more Taiwanese are interacting, socializing and forming relationships with
Chinese social media influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣), whose real name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), made statements advocating for “reunifying Taiwan [with China] through military force.” After verifying that Liu did indeed make such statements, the National Immigration Agency revoked her dependency-based residency permit. She must now either leave the country voluntarily or be deported. Operating your own page and becoming an influencer require a certain amount of support and user traffic. You must successfully gain approval for your views and attract an audience. Although Liu must leave the country, I cannot help but wonder how many more “Yayas” are still
Earlier signs suggest that US President Donald Trump’s policy on Taiwan is set to move in a more resolute direction, as his administration begins to take a tougher approach toward America’s main challenger at the global level, China. Despite its deepening economic woes, China continues to flex its muscles, including conducting provocative military drills off Taiwan, Australia and Vietnam recently. A recent Trump-signed memorandum on America’s investment policy was more about the China threat than about anything else. Singling out the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a foreign adversary directing investments in American companies to obtain cutting-edge technologies, it said
The recent termination of Tibetan-language broadcasts by Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a significant setback for Tibetans both in Tibet and across the global diaspora. The broadcasts have long served as a vital lifeline, providing uncensored news, cultural preservation and a sense of connection for a community often isolated by geopolitical realities. For Tibetans living under Chinese rule, access to independent information is severely restricted. The Chinese government tightly controls media and censors content that challenges its narrative. VOA and RFA broadcasts have been among the few sources of uncensored news available to Tibetans, offering insights
RSS