Elderly Poverty? ASB? Ganja? Here’s How M’sians Reacted To RM10K EPF Announcement

By Karissa Lund  •  17 Mar 2022 in Features

Thirsty for JUICE content? Quench your cravings on our Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the government will allow another withdrawal from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in April. He said the government decided on this as it was aware that many people were still struggling from the after-effects of the pandemic.

This was after the Bera MP said the government had listened, studied and scrutinised the requests from all parties to withdraw the EPF contributions, according to The Edge Markets.

“The government had previously allowed the withdrawal of EPF contributions through three schemes, namely i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra amounting to RM101 billion, involving 7.34 million contributors since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country two years ago.

“Based on the findings of comprehensive studies and research in the recovery phase after this pandemic, there are, among Keluarga Malaysia, those who are still affected by the economy, loss of income, and are rebuilding their lives,” he said in a brief live press conference telecast, yesterday (16 March).

The PM did however urge the people to retain their funds in EPF “unless for serious emergencies.”

Considered as a “populist” move by some, mixed reactions were seen from Malaysians themselves. Starting with – future elderly poverty and retirement crisis:

While some understood the importance of getting the money now and condemn others from judging Malaysians who do so:

While some have defeatist views regarding the whole situation:

With that, some Malaysians have some interesting ideas on what they could do with the extra RM10,000:

Always that one bright lightbulb…

But whatever your choice or views on this, remember that scams or too-good-to-be-true offers will increase significantly as well…

So, now that you’ve heard these different perspectives, what would you do?