“I am made to understand that it is still being studied. It will be discussed further,” she said, adding that it had not come to the Cabinet for a decision.

She was speaking to reporters after attending a financing programme called “Women In Business” specifically for women entrepreneurs by Bank Islam at Bukit Bintang today.

Yesterday, Public Service Department director-general Borhan Dolah said the move to replace the pension scheme was decided at a special public service reform committee meeting in October 2018 that wanted the service to be minimised in phases, and based on need.

He said it was also aimed at reducing the burden of pensions which is approaching RM28 billion. He added that the new contractual scheme, which is being studied, would offer better pay, welfare and protection.

Meanwhile, Wan Azizah, who is also the women, family and community development minister, urged everyone, including the private sector and NGOs, to work together towards increasing the involvement of women in business, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Saying 98.5% of businesses establishments in Malaysia are SMEs, she said these contributed 38.3% to the gross domestic product last year compared with 37.8% in 2017.

“Currently, there are nearly one million businesses in the SME segment, and 20.6% of them are owned or empowered by women.”

She said the involvement of women in the SME sector could be higher with more initiatives from relevant parties.