KUALA LUMPUR; Malaysians have urged the government to reconsider its decision to not allow Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors to withdrawing savings from Account 1.
Netizen Sau Sau, in Facebook posting, said: "The situation is bad. With the cost and all... with the worsening economy... if we live long enough to reach 55 (years), then we would enjoy it, otherwise, the children will enjoy it."
Shaifulazwan Cheewok, in his social media post, said the RM10,000 EPF disbursement would greatly assist a family financially.
"...with that money, they would be able to help other family members who have lost their source of income and also those who do not have an EPF account.
"Yes, it's meant for the future... but please if there is no present, then there is no future."
He also said the authorities should allow those with more than RM50,000 in savings to use part of the funds.
LZK said if people could not survive the pandemic, then EPF contributors would not think of coping till their retirement.
Hairajhosi Wan, in his posting, said it would be better for EPF to extend the RM500 i-Lestari payment until the end of next year.
Syed Hashim said no one knew what the future held.
"The RM10,000 from Account 1 is not much for Malaysians, whose source of income has been affected by the pandemic."
Minnelli Sura said people were facing financial difficulties during the pandemic.
"You need to be flexible and sympathetic."
Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor urged the government to reconsider its decision.
He said by allowing EPF contributors to withdraw their savings, it would lead to more workers losing out on their long-term security.
"EPF contribution serves as an old-age savings and I strongly feel that it should remain so.
"When the government allowed contributors to withdraw their EPF savings in March, some of them exhausted their i-Lestari Account 2 in just two months.
"I prefer that EPF roll out housing schemes for contributors so that they can own a house by the time they retire."
Meanwhile, the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) said it accepted the government's decision to not allow EPF contributors to withdraw their saving from Account 1.
It felt that other forms of financial aid should continue to be disbursed to help the people cope with the cost of living, especially during the pandemic.
Its secretary-general, Abdul Rahman Mohd Nordin, said the situation was so pressing that the people had exhausted their savings in order to survive the pandemic.
"A lot of workers are being retrenched, especially in the private sector. People are losing their jobs each day.
"We feel that it will help if the contributors are allowed to withdraw from Account 1.
"We do accept the decision reached by the government. However, if the contributors cannot withdraw their savings from Account 1, then at least help them with financial aid.
"Perhaps the government can continue disbursing help to the people such as giving cash aid like what did with the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional," he told the New Straits Times.
Earlier yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said some groups had requested to withdraw from their EPF Account 2 during the Movement Control Order.
However, he said, now there were people seeking to withdraw their savings from Account
1, which he said was quite difficult to implement as the government had already disbursed billions in cash aid to ease their burden.
He said the people could expect more aid to come as he would be disbursing billions more to help the people.