Fatimah (third right) presents a mock cheque of RM2,461,500 to Halim at the ‘Kasih Suri Keluarga Malaysia KWSP Tahun 2022′. Also seen are Kota Samarahan MP Rubiah Wang (left), RHB Sarawak regional director Tony Ong Abdullah (right) and Sarawak Women and Family Department director Salmah Jobeli (second right).
KOTA SAMARAHAN (Sept 7): There are still a large number of e-Kasih participants in the state who are not yet registered with Employees Provident Fund (EPF), disclosed Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
The Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Minister thus urged e-Kasih participants who are yet to register as EPF members to do so in order to enjoy the benefits and incentives provided by the state government, one of which is i-Suri, now known as Kasih Suri Keluarga Malaysia (KSKM).
“Not registering with EPF indirectly causes them to be ineligible to participate in the KSKM programme as well as unable to enjoy the facilities and incentives provided by the state government. In addition to incentives, EPF members can also enjoy benefits; namely tax exemptions, disability assistance, death assistance and annual dividends.
“Therefore, those who are yet to register, please register as EPF member to enable payment of contributions from the state government to be carried out,” said Fatimah in a press conference after launching the ‘Kasih Suri Keluarga Malaysia KWSP Tahun 2022’ programme at Kota Samarahan Civic Centre here yesterday.
She explained, in 2020, the state government had approved an allocation amounting to RM1.5 million to be donated to 25,773 KSKM participants who had been registered with the EPF.
“Sarawak is one of the first states in Malaysia to implement this initiative. This is because we see this programme as very beneficial to help improve the standard of living especially for the poor, extreme poor and B40 who are registered with e-Kasih.
“The provision covers EPF contribution payment assistance of RM60 per year for each member. With the payment of the contribution, each member is eligible to receive an incentive amounting to RM480 per year from the federal government, and accordingly, the state government has agreed to continue this assistance until 2024,” she said.
She added, thus far, a total of RM7.7 million in allocations had been handed over to EPF Sarawak to be credited to members’ EPF accounts; the most recent amounting to RM2,461,500 for 41,025 eligible e-Kasih participants under the EPF’s KSKM as of April this year which was credited in July.
As of July this year, the total number of eligible e-Kasih participants under EPF’s KSKM has already reached 127,413.
“However, there are a large number of e-Kasih participants in the state who are not yet registered as EPF members, causing them not eligible to participate in the KSKM and other programmes.
“We want to address the issue in terms of awareness, I believe not many people know about this very good programme, one of the programmes under EPF and there are many other products under EPF,” she said.
On yesterday’s KSKM programme, she said it was meant for the target group, women who are heads of households or breadwinners (because their husbands are sick or single mothers) and they are in the B40 group and registered in e-Kasih.
“The government wants to help, under the i-Suri programme we will help the participants to get a minimum of RM60 so that they can participate in i-Suri and if they have contributed RM60, they will get an incentive of RM480 from the federal government a year.
“At any point of time, a contributor can contribute any amount to top-up. This is a very important support system for a woman who supports her family because her husband is unwell or is a single mother, and self-employed women who do not need to work in a formal sector but are able to contribute to EPF like the formal sector,” she said.
Meanwhile, EPF Sarawak head Halim Boweng said e-Kasih participants should take advantage of the government’s efforts to fund KSKM, as Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia that covers all e-Kasih participants.
“The state pays e-Kasih not just for a year. So far this is the third year. Hopefully this will continue,’ he said.
He also reminded women in the B40 group of the benefit of saving and contributing to EPF.
“When you are 55 years old, at least there is something in EPF to sustain you for the next many years. For example, your contributions made through KSKM, by the time you are 55, you have a total of RM240,000 to sustain you for another 20 years, assuming you live up to 75,” said Halim.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3cPUFLh
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