Nik Nazmi: Do populist politicians think people's savings mirror theirs?

 

Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has chastised "populist" politicians calling for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to allow their contributors to withdraw more money from their retirement savings.

He said it is also unfair to expect the rakyat to use their hard-earned retirement money to rebuild their lives after being affected by the floods recently.

“It is also irresponsible for populist politicians to play up this issue. Maybe they think the amount of savings the common people have is the same as what’s in their bank accounts?

“Instead, the government needs to expand the existing aid and make it more easily accessible to the flood victims,” Nik Nazmi said in a series of postings on Twitter today.

Previously, to help contributors affected by the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government introduced initiatives such as i-Sinar, i-Lestari and i-Citra, which allowed people to withdraw from their retirement funds.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has since revealed that almost 50 percent (six million) of EPF contributors currently have savings of less than RM10,000.

Of this figure, he said 74 percent of them are bumiputera, and 79 percent have less than RM1,000.

EPF has also sounded the warning bells previously, saying that the Covid-19 related withdrawals were made in extraordinary circumstances and that future withdrawals will need to be considered very carefully.

It also said that in order for members to recover the loss of savings from the Covid-19 related withdrawals, they would need to work an extra four to six years.

While Nik Nazmi said he understands many are facing hard times due to the floods recently, he noted that it is concerning if EPF withdrawals become an option every time there is a crisis or disaster.

“Aside from civil servants, this (EPF) is the savings that workers are relying on to retire, amid the rising cost of living and extended lifespan,” he said.

He also pointed out that for all EPF contributors, those in the B40 and M40 income groups saw a decline in their EPF accounts.

Nik Nazmi said only those from the T20 income group experienced an increase in their EPF accounts.

On Dec 31, 2021, a group of 10 EPF contributors had failed in their attempt to meet the agency’s head to object to the government’s move to end the withdrawals from their EPF savings via the i-Citra scheme.

The group’s spokesperson Khairul Anuar Othman had said the RM1,000 cash aid from the government and RM600 zakat aid are not enough for those affected by the floods to recover from the disaster. - Mkini