MINDEF announced on 14 May 09 that the retirement age of SAF regular officers will be extended from 45 to 50 and created the Military Domain Expert Scheme for uniformed officers with retirement age till 60. In 1996, MNDEF launched the SAVER scheme for the SAF regular officers with the aim to keep the SAF young and promised their officers that they will be able to earn in 25 years what people in private sector can earn in 40 years. Since the retirement age for SAF regulars has been extended, shouldn't their SAVER contributions be cut as well to reduce the cost of defence spending? Why should the tax payers carry the burden of the SAF regulars?