I call on the government to remain committed to reforming the economy and assisting the poor and vulnerable groups. Also, the government should reject the populist demand made by some politicians for opening the fifth Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) withdrawal to avoid impacting the already fragile social protection system.
It is imperative for the government to focus on reforming the country’s economic system and advancing progressive economic agendas that could benefit both the people and the country as a whole, such as increasing employment opportunities, promoting industrial upgrading, strengthening the education and training system, and so on.
Prime Minister cum Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated in Parliament earlier that as many as 51% or 6.7 million EPF contributors under the age of 55 have less than RM10,000 left in their accounts after the previous 4 withdrawals. In other words, these members can only spend less than RM42 per month on average within 20 years after retirement. In addition, 71% of EPF members fall into the severe level because their savings are insufficient to keep them above the poverty level in retirement.
Considering the staggering statistics, I call on the government to reject the unreasonable and populist demands of some short-sighted politicians, for the EPF is the primary fund that protects the dignified retirement life of citizens. Withdrawing EPF earlier is merely a short-sighted measure championed by some politicians that could jeopardize the living standards and quality of the retirement life of generations in the coming ten years or decades.
Nonetheless, rejecting the demand for early EPF withdrawal does not mean that the government ignores the plight of the poor and vulnerable groups. This is because the government can take many other institutional measures to strengthen the social protection system in order to benefit more needy groups, promote overall economic growth, and build a more just and inclusive society.
For example, the government has allocated funds to the B40 group, of which family income is less than RM2,500 to receive up to RM2,500. Such a measure can help alleviate the hardships of the vulnerable group to a certain extent and help poor families reduce their financial burden.
However, the government must be more proactive in strengthening the social protection systems, such as providing more systematic assistance to the poor and vulnerable, offering affordable and high-quality healthcare services, institutionalizing incentives for women to enter the workforce, as well as strengthening and expanding the scope of the unemployment programs.”
All in all, the government must abandon the short-sighted “candies” and focus on strengthening the social protection system. This will ensure that while promoting economic development, the living standards of the poor and vulnerable groups can also be gradually elevated. With that, all Malaysians, regardless of social status and background, can truly benefit from the country’s economic development and prosper.