Living in Hope in the Twilight Years

Living in Hope in the Twilight Years

Posted by Global New Light of Myanmar Date: May 19, 2017
Khin Maung Oo


Those who mainly accomplish the tasks of national building are the government & physical and mental workers serving at government services, state-owned businesses, enterprises and factories. Service personnel are meant for those who dutifully serve duties assigned upon them, abiding by governmental rules—laws, rules, regulations and prescriptions. As soon as they do not comply with these rules and regulations of the service personnel any longer, they become invalid from service personnel-hood.
All citizens are required to live in accord with laws and rules of the country. Being citizens among the people, service personnel also must keep national laws and rules, as well as rules, regulations and service ethics simultaneously.
As a result, servicemen can enjoy the rights granted to citizens and service personnel concurrently as they honestly devote themselves to national duties starting from the time they join into these jobs. Though they have had the rights they deserve, it is not easy for them to have a secure guarantee each for their whole lives. Under the existing Myanmar Service Personnel Law, anyone has to retire on the superannuation pension from the service when they become 60.
Most of them have no abodes of their own. Unless they have grace and favor accommodations granted by the government or their work, they have to live in houses of parents or parents-in-law or in hired places. They find it difficult to support their families with their meager income, not to mention to daydream purchasing a dwelling place of their own even if they have learnt to save money, spending their service life struggling for survival.
After 1988, service-men with long service-age were granted small plots of lands to build a plot each on, in Dagon Myothit (North) under service-personnel-owned-housing-estate project. Hence, their twilight years can be said to have shined, whereas present staff lost hopes for getting such chances as staff-owned housing estate projects like former ones vanished before them, since after that project.
To our great delight, we have heard the news that such kinds of housing estates are being built for governmental service personnel to live in their advancing age. Now, service-men, who are going to retire on superannuation pension, are being scrutinized. Arrangements for service men to have a chance each to buy a low-price apartment can be said to be a guarantee for their twilight years.
During three months period, as of the first week of June this year, the project will be implemented nationwide and benefits can be enjoyed starting from the end of the present financial years. Though there may be several difficulties to do so, it is the heartening news for all remaining service personnel to hear that such estate projects will be regularly arranged for regular amounts of staff going to retire annually.
We must wholeheartedly welcome such a program which will guarantee for aged veterans in their fading part of their lives.