PARLIAMENT | Lawmakers debating proposed amendments to the Employees Provident Fund Act 1991 in the Dewan Rakyat today zeroed in on the option to allow husbands to transfer part of their contributions to their wife or wives.
Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) said the amendments to allow EPF members to transfer part of their 11 percent contributions to their wife should be expanded to include other possible scenarios.
"Sometimes there are situations where the husband does not have an EPF account but the wife does. This is a consideration which is not included in the proposed amendments," said Ahmad.
"The wife might have a full-time job but the husband runs a small business. What if the wife wants to contribute to her husband?
"My second proposal is for a situation whether a husband wants to contribute to their child. That is also not stated here," he said.
He was referring to an additional clause for a husband to voluntarily channel at least two per cent of his 11 percent monthly contribution to an account identified as belonging to his wife or wives.
Ahmad further said the amendments should also clarify mechanisms for contribution in the case of a man with more than one wife.
"We only state a two percent contribution but why not more? And in the case when there is more than one wife, what would be the percentage?," he asked, quipping that Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) and Ismail Mohamad Said (BN-Kuala Krau), who sit to his right and left in the Dewan Rakyat, would have more experience on having multiple wives.
Shahidan Kassim (BN-Perlis) similarly noted that increasingly, there were more working women with stay-at-home husbands who should be allowed to contribute with the amendments.
"In the context of a foreign husband or a foreign wife, they should also be made to contribute to prevent situations where the spouse is left without any (financial) help.
"So long as they are married to a Malaysian, they should be allowed to contribute," he said.
Hasbullah Osman (BN-Gerik) said the amendments should clarify whether a penalty would be imposed by the EPF in the event of any delays in payment of the voluntary contributions.
He said this was based on his personal experience of employing a driver and at times had to negotiate with the EPF over inadvertent delays in making his employer contributions.
Meanwhile, Nor Azrina Surip (Harapan-Merbok) urged for clarifications on situations whether the marriage is legal according to the religion but unregistered or unrecognised by law.
She said the government should also consider for the voluntary contributions to be made based on a minimum sum rather than a minimum percentage.
Other proposed amendments include adding a provision to prevent individuals suspected of failing to settle outstanding EPF contributions from leaving the country.
The amendment bill was earlier tabled by Deputy Finance Minister Amiruddin Hamzah.
In his winding-up speech, Amiruddin the option was introduced with the intention of introducing more protection for housewives.
"The contributions will stop in the case of death or a divorce," he explained, adding that the EPF must be notified by the husband to stop making deductions from his contributions.
In the case of a man with more than one wife, Amiruddin said the EPF will accept applications to contribute to each wife.
"If a husband says he has one, two, three or four wives and he voluntarily requests to transfer his deductions, we (the EPF) will make the transfers accordingly," he said. - Mkini
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