KUALA LUMPUR: Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir has no issue with choosing only one pension following a suggestion made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, he kept mum about the pension scheme he would choose if a decision on the matter is finalised by the cabinet.
He said this when met by reporters after the launch of Digital Skills TVET by University College Sedaya International (USCI) here today.
"We will wait for instructions from the prime minister and serve in any capacity that we can. We will also consider (the prime minister's advice), and if that is what he wishes for, we will follow," he said.
Present during the launch were USCI group chief executive officer and vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir and former health minister and USCI adjunct professor Khairy Jamaluddin.
Last week, Anwar told politicians who are entitled to more than one pension scheme to choose only one.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the new pension scheme was only a proposal and that no decision had been made on the matter.
He had previously announced that the review of pension schemes also applied to politicians, including the prime minister, ministers and elected representatives.
The prime minister, however, said the matter would be finalised only after the study on the review was brought to the cabinet for a decision.
The announcement came after certain quarters said the pension for politicians should first be abolished following an announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that new civil servant hires from Feb 1 would no longer qualify for pensions.
They would instead contribute to retirement schemes like the Employee Provident Fund and Social Security Organisation.