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EPF chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali said in a statement that the Fund viewed
seriously the losses suffered by its members who had invested in trust funds
and had as a result sent a proposal to the Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust
Managers asking fund management institutions to tighten the process, procedures
and management of investment risks.
<p>The proposal also called for the institutions to ensure that products introduced
are more suitable for the target of savings for old age that did not pose too
high a risk. </p>
<p>Institutions were also asked to make sure that their agents promoted products
that fitted the profile of EPF members and explained clearly the risks that
the investors would have to bear. </p>
<p>The EPF also called on the fund management institutions to reduce the investment
management fee that they now charged. </p>
<p>Abdul Halim explained that the EPF’s investment scheme was introduced
in 1996 upon the insistence of a group of members in the wake of encouraging
conditions on the stock market. </p>
<p>He said that seeing that the investment in trust funds had a relatively high
risk, the amount of funds that could be withdrawn was limited to only 20% of
savings in Account 1 that exceeded RM50,000. </p>
<p>He said members who applied to make the withdrawals were also told that the
Government guaranteed 2.5% in dividends for their EPF savings whereas there
was no guarantee for their investment in unit trust funds. </p>
<p>Abdul Halim said the EPF held annual meetings with FMUTM, which represented
the fund management institutions, to allow it to monitor the performance of
the institutions and call for the management of its members’ investments
to be upgraded. </p>
<p>Cuepacs president Datuk Nordin Abdul Hamid said EPF members had the right to
withdraw their funds, but they should be wary of the consequences. He said there
were some who were misinformed about investing in unit trusts because agents
tended to disguise the risks involved. </p>
<p>MTUC secretary-general G. Rajasekaran said the congress had opposed the move
to allow EPF contributors to withdraw funds for investment purposes as far back
as 1997. </p>
<p>“Those from the private sector have only their EPF savings to rely on
in their old age and should therefore be more careful with their funds,”
he said.
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com