LETTER | PN's push for more EPF withdrawals a cheap political gimmick

LETTER | Going by the Employees Provident Fund's own disclosure, only three percent of our population can afford to retire on their EPF savings.

Thus, it is nonsensical for Perikatan Nasional to agitate for further depletion of the people's only source of financial sustenance post-retirement.

Whether it is targeted EPF withdrawals or otherwise, the end result would be the same - inadequate EPF savings for the vast majority of workers to sustain themselves upon retirement.

Allowing workers to dip into their EPF retirement savings through the ill-conceived I-Sina, I-lestari and I-Citra schemes by the then-PN government is the root cause of this sad state of affairs.

Enticing the people to use their own retirement savings to tide over their financial constraints and yet proclaiming that they were the saviours rendering financial assistance to the people, was the mother of deception by the then-PN leadership.

One would have expected PN to act responsibly, but it has elected to fish for votes ostensibly on the people's call to be allowed to withdraw from their EPF savings.

Politics is all about gaining popularity to win over votes but it should not be used as a tool to flirt with the sentiments of the EPF contributors who are left with very little savings for their post-retirement financial survival.

By pushing for more EPF withdrawals, the opposition would only be driving more workers to financial distress upon their retirement.

The opposition should not use the "end justifies the means" approach to gain cheap political popularity at the expense of leaving about 97 percent of EPF contributors without sufficient savings once they retire upon attaining 60 years of age.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.