Section 20

When an officer, who is a contributor to an approved scheme, is transferred to the service of the Government, and continues after the transfer to contribute to that scheme, he shall, on written application, be exempted by the Directors from contributing under the provisions of this Act, so long as he continues to contribute to that scheme.

No application for exemption under subsection (1) shall be valid unless it is received by the Directors within 3 months or within such extended period as the Directors may, in any particular case, allow from the date when such officer arrives to assume duty in Singapore.

An officer who has contributed to an approved scheme for the full period required by that scheme and has by such contributions provided a pension for his widow or children shall be deemed for the purposes of subsection (1) to be still contributing to the scheme.

An officer exempted under subsection (1) shall not subsequently become a contributor under this Act unless either he ceases to contribute to such approved scheme or, having left the service of the Government, he is subsequently reappointed to it.

Nothing in this section shall exempt an officer who on re‑appointment to the service of the Government is already a contributor under this Act from continuing his contributions hereunder.

Where an officer who is a contributor to an approved scheme is transferred to the service of the Government and ceases after the transfer to contribute to that scheme, any period during which he was a contributor to that scheme shall be taken into account in reckoning the period of 35 years referred to in section 5.

In this section, “approved scheme” means a scheme for the granting of pensions to widows and children of officers, which has been declared by the Minister to be an approved scheme for the purposes of this section.