Opposition MP calls for review of EPF withdrawal policy

The Star

Tasek Gelugor MP Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan told the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Feb 12) that many contributors of the Employees’ Provident Fund were using funds from their Account 3 for unnecessary luxury expenses.   Wan Saiful urged the government to reconsider its targeted withdrawal policy for Account 3 and suggested that the government should find a better-targeted policy.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/27bf8jtp  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00I'm going to take a shower after this.

00:04Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

00:06Thank you, Mr. President.

00:08We know that the whole country is struggling

00:10with the rising cost of living,

00:12with rising prices,

00:14all kinds of problems are hitting the country right now.

00:17The government's solution

00:19is to provide financial assistance

00:21to those in need.

00:23But actually, among those in need,

00:25Mr. President,

00:27there are individuals,

00:29there are groups that don't need

00:31the monthly financial assistance.

00:33They have money, they have funds,

00:35they have money, but they can't

00:37access that money.

00:39And I'm talking about

00:41a group that I think

00:43is oppressed by the government,

00:45which is those who have tens of thousands,

00:47hundreds of thousands, millions of ringgit

00:49in their own KWSP accounts.

00:52They are not a group that should

00:54receive monthly financial assistance.

00:56Not a group that should

00:58ask for charity.

01:00In my opinion, they are not

01:02qualified to receive these things.

01:04Because the money is in their own accounts.

01:06I met with representatives

01:08of these groups.

01:10Some of them showed me

01:12a statement that they can now open online.

01:14There are KWSP apps, and I praise KWSP

01:16for these apps.

01:18They can show it in front of me.

01:20Some have more than 200,000.

01:22I met two people.

01:24One has 1.3 million,

01:261.8 million in his account.

01:28Millions of ringgit.

01:30But the one who has 1.3 million

01:32works as a dishwasher in his village.

01:34Another one is paralyzed in the hospital

01:36and unable to pay the bill.

01:38How are we going to do this?

01:40That's why for me,

01:42the government's solution of having

01:44three flexible accounts

01:46is not effective, not effective.

01:48If we look at the report,

01:50this is a report from last year

01:52in The Star.

01:54They made a report about three accounts.

01:56It was written here,

01:58with EPF's account three,

02:00many are pursuing self-actualization

02:02and funding their

02:04wildest adventures today.

02:06Many who issue

02:08these three accounts,

02:10are not from those who

02:12are in trouble, but what happens

02:14to them is that they issue

02:16three accounts to allow for

02:18luxurious activities that are not

02:20even needed.

02:22So, the government's solution

02:24of having these three accounts

02:26is not effective, not effective.

02:28What should be done is

02:30to create a foundation

02:32that is truly targeted.

02:34I'm not saying that everyone

02:36should go out,

02:38saving for old age is needed.

02:40But what we need is

02:42if we can't even wait for old age

02:44because we can't live today,

02:46the house has to be repaired,

02:48the car has to be towed,

02:50the car has to be borrowed from Along,

02:52work as a dishwasher

02:54in a shop, whereas before this,

02:56I was a big executive in an international company

02:58in KL.

03:00They need help today,

03:02not wait until they're

03:0450-55 years old to issue

03:06millions of ringgit.

03:08And how fair is it if we force them

03:10to issue,

03:12to ask for life support

03:14of 100-150 ringgit a month.

03:16This is not the level

03:18this is actually wrong target

03:20if you want to help in a targeted way.

03:22So I ask the government

03:24to review again.

Category

Transcript

Recommended