WHO SAYS I AM Retired? Edited by NORMA MANSOR HALIMAH AWANG TEY NAI PENG YAP SU FEI Photo by (from top) Nick Karvounis, Cristina Gottardi and Gunnar Ridderström on Unsplash WHO SAYS I AM Retired? Edited by NORMA MANSOR HALIMAH AWANG TEY NAI PENG YAP SU FEI Published by SOCIAL SECURITY RESEARCH CENTRE (SSRC) Faculty of Economics and Administration University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur Published by Social Security Research Centre (SSRC) © SSRC 2018. All rights reserved First published in March 2018 Printed in Malaysia SOCIAL SECURITY RESEARCH CENTRE (SSRC) Faculty of Economics and Administration University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur PREFACE Who Says I’m Retired Most people regard retirement as a time to let go, relax and take things easy. But there are retirees who continue to work on the same job, take up a new job or venture into business. With increasing life expectancy, more years will be spent in retirement and there is a need to accumulate sufficient savings for retirement. Most retirees do not have adequate savings or defined-benefit pensions. Hence, older people have to continue working to meet the escalating cost of living and health care. Among retirees who have adequate savings or defined-benefit pension, there are those who are participating more actively than ever before in civil society activities or picking up new skills. For these people, the word “retirement” is not in their vocabulary. What motivates the older people to continue with their active engagement in work and society? Active engagement promotes emotional wellbeing and physical health, as well as social integration and support. As Malaysia will be an ageing nation by 2030, there is a need to promote active and productive ageing to optimize the human resources. The experiences of retirees who are actively engaged in paid and voluntary work can provide valuable lessons to others. This book project on active ageing was initiated in 2015. Letters were sent out to about 50 retirees to write about their own active engage- ment, and their views on preparation for retirement. We received 33 short autobiographies and two articles on retirees’ perspectives of active ageing. The authors of the articles comprise mainly of academicians, and professionals from the corporate sector and the civil services. Most of the authors were over 70 years old, and a few were in their 80s. From these autobiographies, we could see that they have common traits such as having a strong self-efficacy, willingness to help others, and being passionate about their work and social engagement. They have all planned for their retirement and hence their active engagement is not driven by financial motivation, but rather their passion for work and a strong desire to contribute to the society. However, the authors do have some regrets such as not spending sufficient time with family and friends, and neglecting their health. Different authors have their own style of writing. Most of the authors started their stories with brief accounts of their childhood experi- ences and family backgrounds which influenced their life journeys and achievements. The focus of these articles is the activities that they are doing after retirement, including their current work, engagement in civil societies, helping others, learning new skills, travelling and social interaction. The editors have made only very minor changes to the autobiographies in order to retain the individual styles. We thank the authors for writing their autobiographies to share their experiences and views. It is hoped that the stories of the active engagements of these authors will inspire others to do the same. Those who are about to retire should prepare themselves for their im- pending new roles and challenges. The young generation should adopt a life course approach and begin retirement planning, so as to be able to emulate the seniors who have lived a purposeful life. We would like to acknowledge Nurul Diyana Kamarulzaman, Mohd Zulfadhli Zakaria and Syarifah Nur Akmal Syed Yusri for their as- sistance in interviewing, compiling the essays and designing the layout for the book. We also wish to thank Nik Ainoon Nik Osman for overseeing the final phase of this project. 11 CONTENTS PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON RETIREMENT by Cheong Kee Cheok 15 BANISH RETIREMENT by U K Menon 21 WE NEVER KNOW by Easwary Alahakone 25 RETIREMENT AND ME by Charles Hirschman 29 THE EXCITEMENT OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY EVEN AFTER RETIREMENT by Augustine Ong Soon Hock Photo by Ira Selendripity on Unsplash 33 RETIRED? WHO SAYS SO? by Rahimah Abdul Kadir 37 SCIENTIST OR STATISTICIAN? by Don McNeil 41 Rafiah Salim 45 85 131 Latifah Merican Cheong Rusma Ibrahim AM I RETIRED? NO NO NO…, CERTAINLY NOT 49 89 by Rahmah Abdul Aziz Mohd Shukri Hussin Mohd. Sheriff Mohd. Kassim 135 53 93 THE JOY OF WORKING BE- Sulaiman Othman ENJOYING YOUR RETIREMENT YOND RETIREMENT by Rokiah Talib by Tey Nai Peng 57 RETHINKING RETIREMENT 99 139 by Thelma Kay Majmin Zakaria WHAT RETIREMENT? by Mohamed Ariff bin Abdul 61 103 Kareem FIRST ATTEMPT AT RETIREMENT: Fauziah Ramly FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS 145 by Sulochana Nair 109 Zainun Ishak Baochang Gu 65 149 Sulaiman Mahbob 113 RETIREMENT IS A DREADFUL LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT IDEA by Sharifah Hapsah Syed 69 by Fatimah Saad Hasan Chan Chee Keen 117 152 73 MY GOLDEN YEARS SSRC IN THE NEWS Gavin Jones by Maya Khemlani David 77 121 WHO SAYS I’M RETIRED? LIFE AFTER “RETIREMENT” by Ramon Navaratnam by Voon Phin Keong 81 127 Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong Hasan Haji Yaakob “Retired is being twice tired, I’ve thought first tired of working, then tired of not.” Richard Armour 8 PREAMBLE The word retirement literally means ‘withdrawal’ and it is often portrayed as a withdrawal from active working life and involvement with society, a time to let go of one’s working identity and participation in the society, yet with improved standard of living and lon- ger life expectancy, increasingly more retirees will live at least 20 years post retirement. Surely there are challenges and opportunities offered at this stage of life. Taking from a positive perspective, retirement is a phase when one has plenty of time to do what one has always wanted to do. Thus retirement should be considered as an opportunity, not as a closure. However, the transition from work to retirement may be difficult for some. The experience of retirement is fundamentally about dealing with time as what Ekerdt and Koss (2015) say. Retirement essentially relieves workday obligations on one’s time while offering, for better or worse, the potential for increased liberty over personal in- volvements, activities and pastimes. Whether relief from work was desirable or otherwise, there is nevertheless time to fill. Ekerdt and Koss’s study involving 30 retirees in the Midwestern USA suggests that daily routines are instrumental for retirees in economis- ing thoughts and behaviours. The assertion of a routine is an assurance that one’s life is ordered and proceeds with purpose, thus solving the task of time, and that routines can be a means to signal conformity with the ideals of active ageing. Between 1970 and 2015, life expectancy in Malaysia has increased from 62 years to 73 years for the males, and 66 years to 77 years for the females. Despite the substantial gains in life expectancy, the retirement age for workers in the private sector remained at 55 years until July 2013 when it was raised to 60 years, following the passing of the Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012 by the Parliament. Prior to that, retirement age in the public sector was raised to 56 years in 2001, to 58 in 2008, and then to 60 years in 2013. Unlike employees in the public and private sectors, the self-employed are not affected by the mandatory retirement age Data from the 1970 and 2010 population censuses show that the labour force participation rate for older males aged 60 and over has declined from 52% to 33% while that of older females declined from 16% to 13%. In 2010, among older males aged 60 and over, 19% were self-employed, 14% were engaged in paid jobs and less than one percent were working as unpaid family workers, while the corresponding figures for females were 5%, 7% and 1%. In terms of occupation, 26% of the older workers were agricultural workers, 22% were sales/service workers, and 4% each were managers or professionals. However, many older Malaysians continued to work beyond the mandatory retirement age, especially among the males. There are many reasons for older people to be actively engaged. It is well recognized that being active is beneficial for health and well-being. While some older people may have to continue working for financial reasons, and this is especially true for those who do not have sufficient savings for daily living or supporting their family. There are many retirees who have devoted their time to civil society organizations/Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and helping the less fortunate. This book presents a collection of inspiring essays written by 31 individuals about their perspectives on retirement, and their expe- riences before and after retirement. These writers have contributed to their respective fields during their “working life” and are con- tinuing to participate actively in their workplace and society. Most of these writers are also actively engaged in non-paid voluntary work. For some, retirement provides an opportunity for them to do things which they could not do earlier, such as visiting places and spending more time with family members and friends. The essays offer lessons learned from past experiences and advice for a fulfilling life to the younger generation. 9 “The adverse impact on health can be reduced if the individual has social support, continues to engage in physical activity, or continues to be physically active upon retirement” 10 PERSONAL REFLECTIONS ON RETIREMENT Cheong Kee Cheok Dimensions of Retirement There is no question about these links.