YOURSAY | Irresponsible for politicians to empty EPF coffers

YOURSAY | ‘EPF is our final piggy bank. If you empty it now, it is gone forever.’

After feedback, DAP says Johor voters want EPF withdrawal

Putrajaya allows another round of EPF withdrawals

Undecided: Think about it. When you are not able to feed your children or pay for their education, what's the point of having savings for your old age?

Worse comes to worst, you don't retire or take on a part-time job to replenish your savings when things get better.

People are desperate. The opposition has already called for the government to come out with more funds, but it is unwilling to do so because it has already been financially stressed due to corruption and wastage.

The only conclusion is this is the BN and Perikatan Nasional’s fault, not the opposition's.

Anonymous_3f4b: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and the DAP have run out of political capital and ideas. They have to take a leaf out of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's initiative and campaign promises and latch on to it like cheapskates.

The aura of DAP making waves and creating excitement and hope for their non-Malay voters are all gone. Their eventual demise and disintegration is for all to see and will happen sooner or later.

Just A Malaysian: The push to spend future savings now is a sign of desperation from the people. They cheered for Bossku despite the atrocious plundering. They want Umno back in power.

Irrationality hits when people are panicky about their future and are grasping at whatever can keep them afloat.

Covid-19 dealt a heavy blow and the Ukraine invasion will be the final stab into an already weakened nation. Malaysia is meeting its own Waterloo.

MS: This decision (allowing fourth round of special EPF withdrawals) only confirms what we already know - that this government like those preceding it is crippled by short-term thinking, a malady which is really a congenital defect of the master race.

By pandering to the urgings of the billionaire class of politicians who made their wealth while bleating about poverty, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the mob he runs with have proved once again that they cannot think out of the box they are trapped in.

What is worse, they have actually told the semiliterate underclass on whose backs they have ridden all through their political life that when it comes to the crunch, they have to rely on themselves and not the leaders they call by their titles, and definitely not the government they support.

Joe Lho: EPF is our final piggy bank. If you empty it now, it is gone forever. This means the financial future of ordinary Malaysians is also gone forever.

What happened to the last time EPF withdrawals were allowed? How long did that last?

At the end of the day, the economic fundamentals didn't change and we are back to square one. Corruption and leakages will ensure that whatever money we have will be siphoned off somewhere else.

Meanwhile, Najib spent a few million dollars on an American PR firm to “improve his image” in the US.

BlackMacaw3431: I understand that EPF money is for retirement. But how do you tell a man in a desert with a bottle of water not to drink it and save it for another day?

Cyclonus: Short-term relief alluding to long-term pain.

While I sympathise with those facing financial constraints, this continuous and unconscionable impromptu provision of EPF withdrawals will burden the children of those who have depleted their EPF savings and will have a roll-on effect on society and the government in time to come.

Instead of pandering to populist demands, the government must devise other means to render financial assistance to these people instead of taking the easy way out of allowing EPF withdrawals.

This is an act of irresponsibility by both the EPF account holders and the government.

Business First: While I accept that people need money, perhaps they could instead take a loan from the government at say 1% or 2% annual interest which is secured to their existing credit balance in EPF (assuming there is RM10,000 or more).

This way the money in the EPF is maintained. The members get higher returns, and if the borrower is able to pay off the government loan on his own, good and well.

If not, at least the member still benefits in the long-term, earning more dividends per year (compounded) on the RM10,000 that is retained than the interest for the government loan.

Considering how much has been lent to graduates who are still owning and have not paid their university loans, why not help those who are desperate for money without digging into their EPF funds?

Fair Comments: How I wish Malaysia is like Norway (population 5.4 million vs Malaysia's 32 million) whose sovereign wealth fund, mostly accumulated since 1990 (note: Petronas was established in 1974) from the contribution of a small percentage of its North Sea oil revenue), amounting to US$1.3 trillion (that’s US$1,300,000,000,000).

Does Petronas have any such fund set aside for our rainy days? Even the entire asset of EPF is less than RM1 trillion (US$240 billion).

How can it be? Can someone please tell me how we get into a situation where a sizeable percentage of our working population has to withdraw whatever little is left of their meagre retirement savings today?

Can one imagine what their financial future be like on retirement? By the way, I was also told that Norway has a zero-tolerance policy on corruption.

Omar Iz: The government wasted billions on failed schemes, presumably to create jobs. Now that the schemes, as expected, have failed to reduce the unemployment rate, people are asked to rob their future to feed themselves.

We have too many self-serving leaches in the government today.

Gaji Buta: Just rename it to Employees Emergency Fund - EEF.

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