Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

Most recently, the Felda Global Ventures Berhad (FGV) a subsidiary of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) under the chairmanship of a convicted money politics culprit has dropped below the issuing price for the first time ever. Then, the prime minister who is also the Umno president Najib Razak announced strings  of benefits and cash rewards to the entire nation's Felda settlers worth billions of Ringgit in order to ease these settlers' dissatisfaction over the losses suffered by both FGV and Felda over these years. And while FGV and Felda has been suffering from such massive losses locally, they are now dreaming of wanting to do "big" investments in war torn regions, like Mindanao (The Philippines), Myanmar and Liberia, and some countries with unstable political and economic situations like Papua New Guinea, Cambodia and Cameroon. In this case, we would like to know what had actually happened to our money (in our retirement funds), when the Emplo...

What got to know in disgust that the BN government is now taking some RM1.5 million from our Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) savings in order to finance some sort of government-linked housing scheme for the "poor" and under qualified house buyers. What does that all mean to us? Our concern is what we and our employers had contributed into our EPF savings from the decades of our hard working and earnings is now going into the hands of some company alleged to be managing this so-called housing scheme for the "poor". What right does this BN government have to rob off our savings from our EPF accounts? Does the EPF Act states that at any time or occasion, the government has the right to withdraw our savings to finance some projects out there? We could remember that when we wanted to withdraw our savings from the EPF to pay for our housing loans, reduce our medical bills, finance our education and as well as to support our own retirement, we saw all those hassles of ...

The management board of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has recently approved the transfer of about RM1.5 billion from EPF to finance the special funding scheme for the sales of houses in public housing programmes in Kuala Lumpur. According to Umno supreme council member who is also the federal territories and urban well-being minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, the funds taken out from EPF will be given to the Federal Territories Foundation to help some 20,000 eligible tenants and interested buyers living in the People Housing Programme (PPR) and the KL City Hall public housing units. This is not the first time EPF has allowed these hard earned savings which belongs to our people to be channeled into different organizations and companies. And such transfers were worrying us right now since we all only got to know this via the newspaper reports today. Last year, we were informed that EPF had waived billions of Ringgit loaned to various GLCs and government agencies after an u...

(Rencana ini telahpun disiarkan di dalam kolum saya dalam Malaysia-Chronicle baru-baru ini) Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja (KWSP) yang baru-baru ini telah mengumumkan bersama dengan United Engineering Malaysia (UEM) Berhad bahawa kedua-duanya telah bersetuju untuk memansuhkan hutang kerajaan persekutuan yang berjumlah lebih daripada RM2.9 billion melalui suatu perjanjian perlaksanaan baru yang masih belum didedahkan sehingga kini. Kenyataan dan tindakan pengurusan KWSP yang telah bersetuju untuk memansuhkan sejumlah besar hutang kerajaan tersebut amat merisaukan dan membimbangi kebanyakan pihak khususnya para pekerja-pekerja dan kesatuan-kesatuan sekerja. Kami kurang memahami kenapa pula kerajaan persekutuan pada hari ini masih tidak mampu membayar balik pinjaman berbilion-bilion Ringgit itu sehinggalah terpaksa meminta jasa baik KWSP untuk memansuhkan bebanan hutangnya. Ke mana perginya dana kerajaan yang begitu banyak? Kenapa pula dana penyimpan para pekerja harus diperjudikan oleh p...

We are referring to a recent news report mentioning the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) board of management has decided to waive some part of the RM2.9 billion loan owed by the BN federal government. We are indeed gravely disturbed and disappointed with the EPF board's inaccurate decision to waive the billions of Ringgit in loan repayment from the government and we do not understand why it has to be like that. First, the money in the EPF is ours, as well as millions more workers out there and all those savings are mean for our retirement in future. Then, helping to reduce the burden of the Umno-led BN federal government by waiving their loan repayment is not the duty of EPF and certainly it is not our duty too as well. Government expenditures are overseen by these civil servants and they are guaranteed with a whole life pensions throughout their retirement age. To ease the government's financial burden or whatever financial deficit they are suffering from, these civil servants s...

We were gravely shocked to learned that based on the recent audit report, it has been found that the Employees Provident Fund or EPF has approved a large amount of about RM55.1 billion in loans which are not backed by government guarantees. The management of EPF is gambling with our money by giving out insecure loans. What we were informed that some of the loans given to debtors also had some standard operating procedures skipped just because these loans were disbursed to federal and state governments, government linked organizations, government linked companies (GLCs) and one incorporated body of the finance ministry. Just look at most of the government departments and agencies, all with blatant misadventures in their procurement and spending, like nobody's business. The costs of purchases were also mostly above that of the market value and some pricing and tenders were just simply being approved without even have the market price or value being analyzed. We all knew that under th...

The Securities Commission (SC) said recently that it is following up on claims that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) was potentially involved in insider trading of Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB) shares. We hope the allegation is untrue and inaccurate. If this is found to be true, we want all those who are involved in abusing the workers' hard earned money to be hauled up and charged in the court of law for mismanagement of public funds. EPF had recently declared a reasonably high dividend rate for the last financial year and we appreciate that, but it does not mean by having the excess of funds, you can do whatever you like with the workers' money. It is our money and not yours. EPF is where we as employees save our hard earnings for our old age in future once we all retire. If the EPF management team cannot manage or prevent such power abuses, we are suggesting a new federal government to take over and put EPF in a proper order. Just another reminder, "EPF...

Good News for our workers! The dividend of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for the year ending 2009 is expected to be higher compared to the previous year of 4.50% in 2008. According to source from within the EPF board is expected to meet very soon in order to determine the rate for the dividend. The dividend for the year ending 2009 is expected to be announced by this March once board finalize it. In December, EPF announced that it obtained RM5.5 billion in profits in the third quarter last year, which was an increase of RM696.32 million (14.51 per cent) compared to RM4.8 billion in the previous quarter. Well, this is only the beginning. We hope the EPF will continue to strive harder professionally in order to increase the earnings for the betterment of our workers' savings and their future.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today called on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to declare a higher dividend this year, saying the EPF had obtained increased income from its investments. MTUC vice-president A. Balasubramaniam said that in the last 10 years, the highest dividend paid was six per cent, in the year 2000. In previous years, it was between 4.25 and 5.8 per cent, he said, adding that last year it was 4.5 per cent. Balasubramaniam said the EPF had announced an income of RM5.5 billion in the third quarter of last year compared to RM3.6 billion in the similar quarter of 2008. “As a result of this increased income, we expect the EPF to pay a higher dividend,” he said. The EPF has 12 million members, 5.1 million of whom are active contributors - Agencies .

The unusual low dividend of 4.5% expected to be declared by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has incurred the wrath of worker unions in the country. "EPF is a cash rich entity. There is something wrong if there are no reasonable and acceptable dividends being paid out to workers," said National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) secretary-general J.Solomon. "This has been going on for years.... where money from EPF have been used to fund government projects and to bail out ailing companies which later rake in huge profits with CEO and managements enjoying fat bonuses of between 20 to 30 months," he said. "But what about the poor workers in the private sector whose money were used for these bailouts, what are they getting?" he asked, adding that their civil service counterparts are getting a better deal with Cost of Living Allowances (COLA) and other perks. "We have also, time and agains, questioned EPF's investment decisions in certain companies. Th...

According to Malaysiakini recently, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors must brace themselves for some bad news - EPF is expected to declare a mere 4.5% dividend for 2008. Where did all our investment savings went to? The finance ministry and the federal government must explain to the people, particularly the workers on the losses that EPF had incurred last year. The finance ministry and federal government must also explain to us the investments, loans and bail outs that they made in the interest of certain people.

The proposal to convert the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme to a monthly pension scheme for private sector employees is not viable as individual savings are too small. Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general G. Rajasegaran said that the majority of the seven million private sector employees had saved less than RM50,000 each in the EPF upon retirement. “Assuming the retiree lives for the next 20 years and if his savings are given to him in monthly instalments, he would receive about RM214 a month as pension,” he told Bernama yesterday. He added that this amount was definitely not enough for the retiree to live on. Rajasegaran was commenting on a statement by Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam that the Cabinet had given the green light to study the possibility of converting the EPF scheme to a pension scheme for private sector employees. Public sector employees are already enjoying a pension scheme, including free medical treatment at government hospi...