Lawmakers yesterday blasted the Ministry of Civil Service over what they said was its mismanagement of the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF), which is NT$28.4 billion (US$972 million) in the red.
The fund has had an annual average loss of NT$7.35 billion and an investment return rate of minus-1.3 percent since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in 2008, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said.
The Ministry of Civil Service is responsible for managing the fund, which includes pension programs for three groups of civil servants, education workers and military personnel, in total about 630,000 people.
The PSPF programs for civil servants and education workers are reportedly in danger of running out of funds as early as 2017, while the military personnel pension program could go bankrupt in 2019.
While the government often blames the global economic slowdown, Pan said the average rate of profit for Yale University’s fund is 11.28 percent and the California Public Employee Retirement System has generated an average rate of return of 6.25 percent over the past 10 years.
Pan blasted Minister of Civil Service Chang Che-shen (張哲琛) for what he said was his poor management of the fund, and for paying an annual management fee of NT$387 million to investment companies.
Ironically, Chang, who worked as the director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Administration Committee, the party’s chief financial executive, had worked wonders for the KMT’s assets since he assumed his current position in 2008, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said.
The KMT made a profit of NT$1.79 billion from stock dividends between 2005 and 2007, but stock market profits have increased five-fold since the KMT returned to power, the party making NT8.39 billion between 2008 and last year, Lin said.
“As Chang was able to make a profit as a KMT executive and saw the party make even more money after 2008 when he served as a government official, then he should probably explain why the PSPF has suffered tremendous losses during the same period,” Lin said.
Before the meeting in the legislature, Chang said critics of the various benefits granted to people on government payrolls and their retirement bonus were “green with envy.”
The system came into existence in the 1950s and 1960s when most civil servants were paid relatively low salaries. The government encouraged retired civil servants to place money in deposits to boost their finances, and banks at the time offered very high interest rates to depositors, he said.
As the situation has now changed, the government is considering making adjustments to the system to address concerns, Chang said.
The issue should not become a source of contention between ordinary people and public servants, Chang said, adding that people should not “vilify civil servants” because it could deter people from choosing to work in the public sector.
During the question-and answer session, People First Party Legislator Lin Cheng-er (林正二) asked Chang to explain why he said critics were “green with envy.”
Chang initially denied making the remark, then said it was “a slip of the tongue.”
In the afternoon, Chang once again tried to clear the matter up, saying: “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“The overall economic environment and the demographic structure of the country when the retirement system was established were different from now. We are reviewing how to revise the systems,” Chang said.
Chang told lawmakers a task force charged with reviewing the retirement system for civil servants had recently been formed and is expected to propose suggestions in December.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique