DEPUTY Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today urged pensioners to stay loyal to the government, reminding them to show their gratitude to Allah by being thankful to the government, which has given them the good life.

Zahid, who is also home minister, said former civil servants must stand by the government who had taken care of them. 

“We pensioners hope for something better from the government (but) at the same time, InsyaAllah (God willing), we will never bite the hand that feeds us.

“We have to be with the party that has protected us even if some of us have mixed feelings,” he said to an assembly of pensioners at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang in Serdang.

He added that those who had retired should not dwell on feelings of dissatisfaction as such feelings could lead to hatred. 

“We are ungrateful to Allah if we don’t thank those who have provided for us.

“We are active pensioners who will continue to contribute to the community and country and, InsyaAllah, we will continue to stand behind the the government that has protected us.

“We have to be grateful to Allah by thanking those who have provided us with our livelihoods all this while, which is Malaysian government,” he repeated.

Zahid said Putrajaya had disbursed more than RM20 billion in pensions so far and was committed to providing pensioners with better facilities such as quality healthcare. 

Zahid said there were 778,894 pensioners in the country, 483,684 of which were in the Public Service Department, as of June last year. – August 15, 2017.