Give rakyat EPF money now. Worry about retirement savings later.

By Zaidi Isham Ismail

The rakyat is fortunate to have the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to take care of their retirement days.

The EPF is one of the world's top five largest provident fund and is on track to manage RM1 trillion of funds in the next few years managing the contributions of some 10 million working Malaysians.

But what happens when an extenuating circumstance such as COVID-19 hit our shores and even the world causing so much hardship to the rakyat.

Should the rakyat be allowed to withdraw RM10,000 from their account one to tide over these difficult times?

For the past one week, the country's leaders and financial experts were embroiled in this very conundrum.

Naturally, some were for it and some were against it.

Granted that the money is for our retirement days.

But these are extraordinary times which require extraordinary measures.

EPF's argument is that 70% of its contributors have less than RM50,000 in their accounts. 

Allowing contributors to withdraw RM10,000 will only aggravate the situation depleting their retirement savings which are already running on empty.

"The EPF account one is not an ATM machine and should not be used at their whim and fancy," an EPF official who declined to be named told DagangNews.com.

But these are tumultuous times never before seen since the Spanish flu which debilitated the world in the 1920s.

With all due respect to all those who oppose the EPF account one withdrawal proposal, it is easy for them to say.

They are still employed receiving their salaries, still driving their luxury cars and still have a roof over their heads.

The chief executive officers who make these statements opposing the proposal have no inkling on what is happening among the rakyat down on the ground.

Have they ever lost sleep worrying where the next meal on the table is coming from?

Have they ever worried on how to buy diapers and milk for their children?

Have these chief executive officers ever shed a tear for their wives and their children knowing that they only have RM4 left in their wallets? 

Malindo Air just axed its 3,000 workers last week giving them 3-months compensation.

A Malindo Air worker lamented on social media that the whole family had to sell their assets and move back to their parents house.

Perhaps a lot of economists and analyst do not agree with this EPF withdrawal measure.

What the government could do is allow 10 percent of the EPF money to be withdrawn on a staggered basis and not in a lumpsum.

If the contributor only has RM30,000 in the EPF, then only permit the contributor to withdraw 10 percent of the amount of RM3,000 instead of RM10,000.

The National Association of Skilled Workers said that even skilled workers have lost their jobs due to the pandemic let alone the unskilled ones. That is how grave the situation is right now.

So much so that a local Bahasa Malaysia daily reported that even the loan sharks find it hard to survive these days as their clients really, really cannot pay.

The authorities should really give this matter a rethink ahead of Budget 2021 this Friday.

The government and the EPF must help the rakyat now.

Later on, find a solution to top up the retirement savings of the rakyat after COVID-19 is over.

As the Malay saying goes : Duit boleh dicari.

This aptly applies to the EPF. Distribute the RM10,000 now. 

The retirement money "boleh dicari nanti" once COVID-19 is gone God willing. - DagangNews.com

The writer is former NST Business assistant editor