Gu Jun (www.jfdaily.com): Individual differences within the working class result in distinct attitudes toward postponing the retirement age. For manual workers who work extremely hard for meager salaries, retirement can help them unload the heavy burden of work. Also, according to the current policies, they would get a higher pension compared with their salary. Under such circumstances, postponing the retirement age means depriving them of the right of enjoying social welfare. As for another group of people who are working flexible hours, receiving enviable salaries and welfare, retirement means cutting off their financial resources. Therefore, they would by no means desire to retire voluntarily. Also, they would be the firmest supporters for postponing the retirement age.

Though different groups of people hold different opinions, as long as the principle of choice is fully respected, conflicts will not occur, and the interests of underrepresented groups will not be harmed. The current problem regarding pensions is partly caused by the imperfect social security system.

To carry out the principle of fairness, two opinions should be stressed here. First, individuals' choices should be fully respected. Second, people who prefer to work longer are supposed to receive compensation. For instance, their total retirement payment (from the moment they retire to the moment they die) should be higher than that of people who prefer not to prolong their working years. More importantly, a better way of pension calculation needs to be created and strictly conducted. Merely picturing a beautiful future without actually taking efforts to make it happen is not fair for the public, especially for underrepresented groups.

Lin Xiao (Guangming Daily): Postponing the retirement age may impact many aspects of society. First, it would put more pressure on the already severe situation of the employment market. Second, it would harm the interests of low-income physical workers who hope to retire so as to receive the relatively high retirement payment as soon as possible. Under the circumstances, reforming the retirement policies would be the most effective way to address those problems.

The principle of being flexible regarding retirement reform could be practiced step by step. Due to the fact that we lack experience in this area, implementing the updated policies in several cities first would be a wise choice. As for the government, it needs to give support to those cities in any possible way, such as making favorable policies and providing financial aid.

Also, improvements can be made regarding the employment market. The government needs to provide more job opportunities for college students and rural migrant workers, and it should shoulder the responsibility of closing the gap between job-seekers' qualifications and employers' requirements by providing courses designed exclusively for them.

Last but not least, regarding different groups of people, the retirement policies need to be conducted accordingly. For civil servants or employees of public institutions, postponing the retirement age could be treated as a compulsive policy; whereas for physical workers and employees of private enterprises, their personal choices should be fully respected, so as to minimize the potential conflicts.

Zheng Bingwen (Beijing Evening News): The draft of the updated policies should be open to the public, and the government should gather feedback. The public has the right to be clear about the reasons to postpone the retirement age. If they think the new policies are beneficial, they would support it without any doubt.

However, the current situation is not optimistic. People's questions regarding pensions have not been answered. The problems concerning pensions are rarely publicly discussed. This is not right. People deserve to know the truth of the situation.

Also, some particular issues need to be further discussed. For instance, what is the appropriate age for retirement now? This should be set based on precise calculations. And the public needs to be informed of the detailed data about the pensions.

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