KUALA LUMPUR: The government needs to give serious attention to the depleting savings in the people's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) accounts especially in the Bumiputera community.
Malay Chamber of Commerce (DPMM) president Abd Halim Husin said that the country would turn into an aging nation within 30 years, hence, without sufficient savings, the community will likely be too dependent on government's support to survive.
"They might have to wait for government financial aid. We hope this will not happen," he said when contacted today.
He said that the government must create higher paying jobs especially for graduates, which in turn will quickly improve their savings in the EPF.
He said that millions of graduates were still being paid below RM3,000 even though they have been working for over 10 years.
"If this continues, then how will they be able to save for their future?" he said.
He stressed that the situation would be a lot worse for those working in the gig economy sector and those doing odd jobs with daily pay, as they will not have any savings in EPF.
Malaysia Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) lead activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said that the issue of Malays and the Bumiputera community's low savings in EPF was not new.
He said the issue has persisted for years and it was only made worse due to the multiple withdrawal facilities offered during the Covid-19 pandemic such as i-Citra, i-Sinar and i-Lestari.
Enough is enough, he said, stressing that now is no longer the time for them to withdraw more money from their EPF accounts.
He also said that handing out cash aids will only help them in the short term, and not in the long run.
"The government must shift focus on 'feeding' people with money to 'educating' them on how to make money," he said when contacted.
He said there were people who were willing to change their fate by starting businesses when they lost their jobs during the pandemic.
However, some ran into trouble with the local authorities on their operations.
"Their items were seized and the structures they built were destroyed.
"Now tell me, people want to make money but authorities are making it difficult for them. Who is at fault here?" he questioned.
EPF recently released a statement that a total of 6.1 million members have less than RM10,000 in their EPF accounts.
Of that number, 3.6 million have less than RM1,000, making them more vulnerable and without retirement protection.
About 4.4 million or 54 per cent of Bumiputera members now have less than RM10,000, and two million or 25 per cent have less than RM1,000.
Article by: New Straits Times
GOVT TOLD TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO DEPLETING EPF SAVINGS OF BUMIPUTERAS
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