According to online Wikipedia, retirement is a condition where a person is no longer fully employed by its employer. Indeed, the controversy of the relative retirement age is intriguing. To analyze this case, I will focus the scope of view in Indonesia and for governmental work only. In Indonesia, the standard retirement age for an ordinary government staff is at 56 years old (Anon. 2004). For me, the exact retirement age should be well-defined and in this case is 65 years old (which is elongated than the standard but it is fixed for all positions) because it is appropriate to the governmental system and productivity of the person.
First, the elongated and fixed retirement age is appropriate to the governmental system. The work in the government such as civil state employee, police, and soldier in higher level require an experience from the past. The older someone has dedicated on a certain job, the more experience he or she had in his or her field and the more professional the work could be handled. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the opening of the 26th Indonesian Doctor Association Congress stated that the age was the apex of the officer’s maturity, health, and wisdom (Wiguna 2006). Presumably until this age, the governmental staff will still have the physical competence and most importantly experience and knowledge of how the system goes, thus such performance is suited for governmental duties which requires great efficiency and precise planning. The extensive elongation of the retirement age is somehow a detrimenting matter because the physical condition of a person is decreasing and so reducing the efficiency. This is supported by the recent data on the Statistics Indonesia that shows the life expectancy of Indonesian people is about 65.5 years old (Anon. 2000). Although it is a relative number, we could presume that beyond the age of 65 years old, most people are starting to get diseased and then deceased.
Secondly, the elongated and fixed retirement age is increasing the productivity of work of the person. With increasing productivity of the staff, the more income of the government get. Logically, the more the time that someone spend to work on a job longer, the more contribution that person will give to the job and to the income of the state by paying taxes. But still the boundary of a productive age must be considered here due to the point on the previous paragraph. This elongated but fixed retirement age also make people spend their retirement age less thus reducing the government expenses to support them in their relaxed life in the retirement. In USA, for comparison, where many people are retiring at a very early age the elongation of retirement age is proposed to increase the Social Security revenues (Weller 2000). Not to mention it is also supporting the staff to be remain ever productive as they still have responsibilities to fund their family’s life, children’s education, health expenses, housing expenses, etc. Putting a stop too early would also mean hardening the burden of their life, while actually they can still have contribution to their government and family.
First, the elongated and fixed retirement age is appropriate to the governmental system. The work in the government such as civil state employee, police, and soldier in higher level require an experience from the past. The older someone has dedicated on a certain job, the more experience he or she had in his or her field and the more professional the work could be handled. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the opening of the 26th Indonesian Doctor Association Congress stated that the age was the apex of the officer’s maturity, health, and wisdom (Wiguna 2006). Presumably until this age, the governmental staff will still have the physical competence and most importantly experience and knowledge of how the system goes, thus such performance is suited for governmental duties which requires great efficiency and precise planning. The extensive elongation of the retirement age is somehow a detrimenting matter because the physical condition of a person is decreasing and so reducing the efficiency. This is supported by the recent data on the Statistics Indonesia that shows the life expectancy of Indonesian people is about 65.5 years old (Anon. 2000). Although it is a relative number, we could presume that beyond the age of 65 years old, most people are starting to get diseased and then deceased.
Secondly, the elongated and fixed retirement age is increasing the productivity of work of the person. With increasing productivity of the staff, the more income of the government get. Logically, the more the time that someone spend to work on a job longer, the more contribution that person will give to the job and to the income of the state by paying taxes. But still the boundary of a productive age must be considered here due to the point on the previous paragraph. This elongated but fixed retirement age also make people spend their retirement age less thus reducing the government expenses to support them in their relaxed life in the retirement. In USA, for comparison, where many people are retiring at a very early age the elongation of retirement age is proposed to increase the Social Security revenues (Weller 2000). Not to mention it is also supporting the staff to be remain ever productive as they still have responsibilities to fund their family’s life, children’s education, health expenses, housing expenses, etc. Putting a stop too early would also mean hardening the burden of their life, while actually they can still have contribution to their government and family.
References
Life Expectancy. Statistics Indonesia home page. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.datastatistik-indonesia.com/content/view/460/460/1/3/
Public Opinion. Kompas Cetak homepage. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://64.203.71.11/kompas-cetak/0504/28/opini/1714614.htm
Retirement. The Online Wikipedia. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement
Weller, Christian. (2000, September). Raising the Retirement Age. [Online Article]. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm /briefingpapers_ raisingretirement_ raisingretirement
Wiguna, Oktamandjaya. (2006, November 24). President Recommend the Raise of Civil State Employees’ Retirement Age. TEMPO Interaktif home page. Retrieved May 3, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/nasional/2006/11/24/brk, 20061124-88389,id.html
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