Pension Payments in People's Association's Annual Reports

49 Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what is the rationale for pension contributions of $366,000 and $802,000 for 2016 and 2015 respectively as reported in the PA's Annual Report for 2015/16, when the pension scheme no longer exists; (b) why have these amounts been previously classified as "termination benefits" in past reports; and (c) who are the beneficiaries of these payments.

Mr Chan Chun Sing (for the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth): These pension contributions were paid to staff who were already on pension schemes, who were either (a) transferred to the People’s Association (PA) from then-Ministry of Community Development in 1993; or (b) seconded to PA from their parent organisations. PA no longer has a pension scheme.

Second, these contributions consist of once-off retention bonuses paid to junior grade officers upon fulfilment of their contract terms as per common industry practice.

The term "termination benefits" in past Annual Reports was renamed as "pension contributions" to better reflect the nature of such payments.