Retirement: A Blessing or misery
21 September, 2011
Khartoum, (sudanow.info.sd)- Retirement is the fate that awaits every salary-earner, particularly a government employee, when he reaches 60 years of age. Despite its inevitability, retirement is feared by many government employees who look at it as if it is a moment of death. While some employees welcome it gracefully and prepare themselves for it psychologically and practically, others wish they would never reach it, with each group having their reasons and justifications.
Retirement means the end of an era of incessant and generous offering and the transition to an unknown world, at least for many people. It implies rearrangement of activities, time and social relations with close and distant people. For some people it means confusion in the way of living and conditions in general.
People who are scared by retirement are usually the unprofessional whose life is linked to their jobs and feel that they will lose everything if they lose those jobs, although there is an opportunity for everyone who intends to offer and earn a living so long as he is in sound health and is ambitious. However, this does not imply that all professionals welcome retirement in grace and practicability, especially those who have the benefits of the government office and the scepter and prestige of power.
There are people who impatiently wait for retirement for a number of reasons, including the feeling that they have offered their jobs everything they possess without achieving some of their ambitions and desires. There are some people who even apply for an early retirement in the hope that one may realize one’s wishes in another field.
If we have a look at the conditions of the pensioners in some of the developed countries, we can see that they welcome the retirement in high spirits, contrary to the situation in the developing countries; this is mainly those developed nations high respect the pensioner because he has youthful vigor in the service of his country and his people. An example to be cited in this connection is the demonstrations recently staged in France in France protesting the extension the retirement age from 60 to 65 years because they believe that this would deny them the numerous benefits of retirement for another five years.
As for the Sudan, despite efforts being exerted for the improvement of the status of the pensioner, those improvements are still far behind the ambitions of the pensioners. It is at least hoped that the pensioner will be sent into retirement with a pension that is equal to his last pay, something that the state can afford.
In any case, the sending of a person into retirement should not be like flinging him in the dark or causing him an additional distress; it should, rather, be a move to new bright future life with arrangements that suit his age, social status and capacity, as the pensioner, irrespective of his previous job, may be able to offer his village, community or country the service he could not offer before his retirement. The retirement is either a blessing because the employee has left his job safely and in good health or misery to a person who believes otherwise.
E N D
Photo of the Week
Dinder – SUNA – SUDANOW As part of international cooperation programs in wildlife conservation and the implementation of international conventions governing wildlife protection in Sudan, the Federal Dinder National Park authorities received a Nile crocodile on the banks of the Dinder River this morning. The crocodile was transported from Jordan to Sudan as part of jo...
More-
30 August, 2026
Stories from the Heart of the Battlefield From a University of Khartoum Professor to a Vegetable Seller in Cairo
Cairo (Sudanow) In one of Cairo’s neighborhoods, where the stories of passersby intersect with the details of everyday life, the story began with a quiet-faced Sudanese man standing behind a small vegetable stall. He carefully arranged tomatoes and greens, selling them with a smile. Few of those passing by knew that the man they addressed so simply had spent years of his life in lecture halls and scientific research labor...
Contact Us
Address: Sudan News Agency (SUNA) Building, Jamhoria Street, Khartoum - Sudan
Mobile:+249 909220011 / +249 912307547