Parliamentary Pensions Act 1978

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“elected Member”, “non-constituency Member” and “nominated Member” have the meanings given by Article 39(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Constitution, respectively;

“future Member” means a person —

“Mayor” means a Mayor appointed under rules made under the People’s Association Act 1960;

“Member” means a Member of Parliament;

“office” means the office of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Speaker, Senior Minister, Minister, Senior Minister of State, Minister of State, Mayor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Parliamentary Secretary or Political Secretary;

“office‑holding Member” means a Member who holds or has held any office and includes a Speaker who is not an elected Member of Parliament;

“prescribed commutation factor” and “prescribed discount rate” mean, respectively, such factor and rate as the President prescribes for the purposes of this Act;

“reckonable service” means —

The reference to service in Parliament in the definition of “reckonable service” in subsection (1) is to be read as including a reference to service in the Legislative Assembly on and after 3 June 1959 and before 9 August 1965.

Where a Speaker is not, or has not been, an elected Member of Parliament for any period, “salary” means, for that period, the salary payable to him or her in respect of his or her service as Speaker.

Despite any other provision of this Act, where for any period a person who is eligible for any pension or other benefit under this Act voluntarily refrains from receiving the whole or any part of any salary due to the person in respect of the office held by him or her, then, in calculating his or her pension or benefit he or she is, for such period, deemed to have received the full salary to which he or she was entitled as holder of that office.

Unless otherwise expressly provided, a future Member is not eligible for any pension or gratuity under the provisions of this Act in respect of his or her reckonable service as a future Member.

To avoid doubt —

Any person who on 1 January 1995 is a nominated Member is not eligible for a pension under the provisions of this Act in respect of his or her service as a Member on or after that date.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person who, after 1 September 1978, ceases at any time to be a Member may be granted a pension under this section if he or she has not less than 9 years’ reckonable service as a Member (whether continuously or not).

The annual amount of pension payable to a Member is —

The annual pension payable to any Member under subsection (2) must not exceed two-thirds of his or her annual salary.

Subject to sections 13 and 15, a pension under this section continues for the life of the person to whom it is payable but is not payable in respect of any period during which he or she is again a Member or is a candidate for election to Parliament; at the end of that period the pension is again payable and must be re‑computed under subsection (2) with the addition of any further period of reckonable service to the period of his or her former reckonable service as a Member.

For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), “annual salary” means the annual equivalent of the highest monthly rate of salary (excluding any non‑pensionable allowances) received by a Member during any period of his or her reckonable service as a Member.

For the purposes of subsection (4), a person who ceases to be a Member in consequence of the dissolution of Parliament is to be treated as a candidate for election from the date of the dissolution if he or she seeks re‑election at the next general election.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person may be granted a pension under this section, in addition to any pension that may be granted to the person under section 3, in respect of his or her reckonable service in any office if, after 1 September 1978, he or she ceases at any time to hold office and has not less than 8 years’ reckonable service as an office‑holding Member (whether continuously or not).

The annual amount of pension payable to an office‑holding Member is —

The annual pension payable to any office-holding Member under subsection (2) must not exceed two-thirds of the highest annual salary of any office held by him or her.

Subject to sections 13 and 15, a pension granted under this section continues for the life of the person to whom it is payable but is not payable in respect of any period during which he or she is again an office‑holding Member; at the end of that period the pension is again payable and must be re‑computed with the addition of that period comprising reckonable service to the period of his or her former reckonable service as an office‑holding Member.

For the purposes of subsections (2) and (3), “annual salary”, in relation to any office, means the annual equivalent of the highest monthly rate of salary (excluding any non-pensionable allowances) received by an office‑holding Member during any period of reckonable service as a holder of that office.

Where the monthly rate of salary applicable to any office previously held by an office-holding Member is increased before 21 May 2011 during any continuous period of reckonable service while he or she is an office‑holding Member but holding another office, that Member is deemed to have received such increased rate during his or her period of reckonable service as a holder of that office.

Where an office-holding Member has —

Subsection (1) does not apply to an office‑holding Member who attains 55 years of age on or after 21 May 2011.

Subject to sections 13 and 15, where any pension is granted before 21 May 2011 to any office-holding Member under section 4 by virtue of subsection (1), payment of that pension as a full or reduced pension stops on or after 21 May 2011 and ceases to be payable to that office‑holding Member for the period that he or she remains an office‑holding Member and any such pension paid in contravention of this subsection must be immediately refunded to the Pension Fund; except that at the end of that period when he or she so ceases to hold office —

Where a person has been granted before 21 May 2011 a pension under section 4 after ceasing to hold office and —

Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person to whom a pension is granted under this Act may, at his or her option exercisable in accordance with this section, be paid —

The option mentioned in subsection (1) is exercisable —

Where a person fails to exercise the option in accordance with this section, the person is deemed to have opted to receive a commuted pension gratuity without any pension in respect of his or her reckonable service as a Member or as a holder of an office or both, as the case may be.

The option, once exercised by a person in respect of his or her reckonable service as a Member or as a holder of any office (as the case may be), must not be revoked so far as concerns any pension or gratuity so granted to the person under this Act in respect of such period of service prior to the exercise of the option.

Subject to this section, the commuted pension gratuity mentioned in subsection (1) is a capital sum ascertained by multiplying the prescribed commutation factor by the amount of pension that the person concerned is eligible for under this Act.

Where any pension granted to a person under this Act is required to be re‑computed by adding his or her further reckonable service as a Member or as a holder of any office to any period of reckonable service previously used in computing his or her pension, the commuted pension gratuity must be reduced by such amount of pension or gratuity already received by the person in respect of the period of reckonable service previously used in computing his or her pension.

Any commuted pension gratuity to be granted to a person must be computed in accordance with the provisions of this Act in force at the date when the person becomes eligible for the grant of a pension under this Act, and must be paid in the prescribed manner.

This section does not apply to any person who before 1 January 1995 has been granted and paid a pension or gratuity under the provisions of this Act as in force before that date.

Where the person is, on 1 January 1995, an office‑holding Member who —

No person has an absolute right to compensation for past services or to any pension or gratuity under this Act.

It is lawful for the President to reduce or altogether to withhold any pension or gratuity which has been granted to a person under this Act, or for which he or she has become eligible, where the person has been convicted by any court of an offence (even if only a fine and no term of imprisonment has been imposed) —

The President must, before exercising any power conferred on him or her by subsection (2), consider the record of the proceedings of the court.

No pension or gratuity that would under this Act be granted to a person may be so granted if, at the date he or she became eligible for the grant of such pension, the person has been adjudged a bankrupt or declared insolvent by judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction in Singapore or elsewhere and has not obtained his or her discharge from that adjudication or declaration.

If any person to whom a pension has been granted under this Act is adjudged a bankrupt or is declared insolvent by judgment of any such court, then such pension forthwith ceases.

Where a pension or gratuity ceases or is not granted by virtue of this section, it is lawful for the President, from time to time, during the remainder of the life of the person whose pension has ceased or who would have been eligible to receive the pension, or during such shorter period or periods, either continuously or otherwise, as the President thinks fit, to direct all or any part of the moneys to which that person would have been eligible to receive by way of pension or gratuity, had that person not become a bankrupt or insolvent, to be paid to or applied for the maintenance and benefit of all or any (to the exclusion of others) of the following, namely, the person and the person’s wife, child or children, or other dependants in such proportions and manner as the President thinks proper; and the moneys are to be paid or applied accordingly.

Moneys applied for the discharge of the debts of the person whose pension has ceased or not been granted must be regarded, for the purposes of subsection (3), as applied for the person’s benefit.

When a person to whom a pension or gratuity has not been granted, or whose pension has ceased under the provisions of this section, obtains a full and proper discharge from the person’s bankruptcy or insolvency, the person’s pension or gratuity or both (as the case may be) are to be restored to the person with effect from the date of the discharge.

The President may make regulations for, or in respect of, all matters which he or she considers necessary or expedient for carrying out or giving effect to the purposes and provisions of this Act.

The President may, in making regulations under this section, provide for any Member or class of Members to opt to be superannuated according to the provident fund scheme applicable to non-pensionable employees of the Government under the Central Provident Fund Act 1953, and for the terms and conditions of the option.

Any Member who exercises an option in accordance with the regulations made under subsection (2) in respect of any period of his or her reckonable service as a Member is deemed to have become a future Member on the commencement of that period of service.

All regulations made under this Act must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.

Despite the repeal of the Parliamentary Pensions Act (Cap. 51, 1970 Revised Edition) (called in this section the repealed Act), the provisions of the repealed Act in force immediately before 1 September 1978 are to be construed and have effect as if it had not been repealed by this Act in the case of any person who —

The provisions of this Act do not apply to —

If in the case of a Member who on 1 September 1978 has not less than 9 years’ reckonable service and has attained 45 years of age, the pension that he or she is eligible to receive under section 3 on his or her ceasing to be a Member, together with any pension which he or she is eligible to receive under section 4, is less than the amount of pension which he or she would have been eligible to receive under the repealed Act in respect of his or her reckonable service before that date had he or she ceased to be a Member on that date, his or her pension under section 3 may be increased by the difference between that amount and the pensions which he or she is eligible to receive under sections 3 and 4.

Any person who on 1 September 1978 is eligible to receive a pension under section 10 of the repealed Act in respect of his or her reckonable service under that Act if he or she had ceased to hold public office as defined by that section may, when he or she ceases to hold such public office, be granted a pension under the repealed Act in respect of the period of that reckonable service before that date as if the repealed Act had not been repealed by this Act.