KOTA SAMARAHAN: About 15,751 e-Kasih participants across Sarawak are still not registered as EPF members, said Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.
This causes them to be ineligible to participate in the Kasih Suri Keluarga Malaysia (KSKM) programme, said the Minister for Women, Early Childhood, and Community Well-being Development.
Fatimah said they would be unable to enjoy assistance programmes or incentives provided by the state government.
EPF members also enjoy perks like tax exemptions, disability aid, death assistance, and annual dividends, she pointed out.
“You are encouraged to register as a EPF member to enable payment of contributions from the state government to be carried out,” she said.
The KSKM programme, which will be in effect until 2024, enables B40 housewives to receive RM60 in EPF contribution payment assistance with annual rewards of RM480 from the federal government.
“In 2020, the Sarawak Government approved an allocation amounting to RM1,546,380.00 to 25,773 KSKM participants who have registered with EPF.
“This is because we see this programme as very beneficial to help improve the standard of living especially for the poor, poverty-stricken and B40 who are registered with e-Kasih,” she said.
She said this during her speech at the inauguration of the Kasih Suri Keluarga (KSKM) KWSP 2022 programme held at Kota Samarahan Civic Center on Tuesday (Sept 6).
She hoped that the audience would learn from this event and gain a deeper understanding of the value of saving money to ensure a better quality of life in retirement.
In a related development, Director of the state Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Halim Boweng, said an EPF member can now start self-contributing from the early age of 14-years-old.
“In order to encourage them to develop the habit of saving for their future retirement, we have lowered the age restriction to that age.”
The Kasih Suri Keluarga Malaysia (KSKM), previously known as i-Suri is one of the government’s special incentives for housewives and women registered in the National Poverty Database (e-Kasih).
It aims to ensure the well-being of housewives, single mothers and women who are heads of households as well as recognising their contribution to family members and national development.
