Contributing membership is mandatory for eligible officials who join the government service after the fund’s inception (March 27th, 1997). Membership, however, is voluntary for officials who entered the government service prior to the Fund’s inception. GPF members will receive two composite portions of retirement income; one from the old civil service (PAYG scheme), financed by the government out of the annual budget, and the other one from GPF, which came from the contributions of the government and the member plus the investment return made by the GPF.