Sin Chew Daily

EPF announced the details for i-Sinar withdrawal on Wednesday to allow members to withdraw from their Account 1.

As the criteria were inconsistent with what finance minister Tengku Zafrul had announced earlier, former PM Najib and Umno president Ahmad Zahid slammed the government for not offering instant assistance to the struggling rakyat.

This is well within anticipation. The government announced during the tabling of the 2021 Budget that EPF members could withdraw from their Account 1 for emergency use, which was perceived as a compromise measure made under political considerations. When politicians exerted pressure on the EPF to allow all members to take out their money for emergency use, and if this was not met, they would start fanning public sentiments to protest against the authorities for ignoring the needs of the people.

EPF members who urgently require some cash to relieve the pressure on their shoulders have hoped that the government would relax the criteria so that they can easily withdraw from their own accounts, thinking that what is in their accounts is actually their hard earned money and that they have the right to decide when to withdraw and what to do with the money.

Some others are of the opinion that EPF has not performed up to the mark in managing and investing the funds, and it is now time to allow people to take out their money to do their own investment or saving plans.

Meanwhile, financial planning experts and economists have repeatedly advised the public that EPF offers members protection for their retirement and they are therefore urged to plan carefully because they may be plunged into financial difficulty if they make bulk withdrawals before their retirement.

All the while EPF has allowed members to conditionally withdraw from their own accounts for various purposes before they reach the retirement age. The shocking fact is that many Malaysians have made unplanned and unrestricted premature withdrawals such that they have not much left in their EPF accounts by the time they retire.

Do bear in mind that the contractual relationship between EPF and the depositors is not exactly the same as that between other financial institutions and their customers. As manager of members' retirement funds, EPF is a statutory institution striving to help enhance the members' wealth through investment, which makes it different from ordinary financial institutions. Moreover, members are not the only contributors, as their employers also contribute towards their funds. It is therefore not wholly accurate to claim that EPF is their own money.

Some feel that many people are out of work or have their incomes drastically reduced due to the pandemic, and they urgently need their EPF savings to meet their short-term needs. To such people, they may even have problem meeting their immediate day-to-day needs, and future appears to be too remote for them. They believe that they can deposit again in future when the current crisis is over and they manage to get new jobs.

Well, they are not wrong, but lest we forget, we may need to take up a few more jobs in order to save up to a certain amount for a decent retirement.

In short, we must have prudent plans for our savings and expenses or we may face grave consequences for failing to do so.

As a matter of fact, the criteria for i-Sinar withdrawal are not as unreasonable as Najib has claimed. The authorities will propose suitable withdrawal limits based on a member's income and savings so that those who really need the money can withdraw from their accounts for appropriate use.

The government is not trying to make life difficult for depositors by setting the conditions, but to educate the public to withdraw only after proper financial planning.

If those politicians who are constantly exploiting the EPF withdrawal issue for their own political gains really care for the well-being of the rakyat, they should propose to the government to help those affected by the pandemic through other channels.

Instead of giving the people fish and instilling into them the idea of unrestrainedly spending their future money, the government should teach them how to fish.