Prevent Malay retirement poverty so Malaysia can avert wealth-induced tensions - Dr M

SHAH ALAM - Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reiterated his blunt views about the future of the Malays after a study revealed that they may have less than RM20 to live off during retirement.

Preparing for the future, he sternly stressed in the latest episode of Sinar Specials, 'The Malay Retirement Dilemma Unveiled', was not a characteristic of the Malays, lamenting that this was obviously bad because they would suffer greatly which will not bode well for the country.

“Generally speaking, the Malays do not know how to manage their own wealth. Wealth is for them to spend now, not for the future. To save for the future is not part of their culture.

“If they don’t change, they are going to be sidelined because as they grow less able to work to earn money, they are going to be very poor due to lack of savings and investments,” Mahathir said.

When that happens, he warned, the Malays will make-up most of the poor in the country.

“There will always be conflict between the poor and the rich. They will feel very jealous of other people's wealth and that, in turn, creates tensions,” said the 98 year-old.

In a report published in July, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) said the savings of its members have faced additional setbacks due to Covid-19-related withdrawals, leaving them more vulnerable to the risk of old-age poverty.

The hardest hit, EPF stated, was the majority of its Bumiputera members -- which are predominantly Malays.

Apart from Covid-19, the inadequately worrying low level of savings were compounded by other factors as well, including, low wage structure, lack of minimum wage policy prior to 2014, inconsistent contributions and under-employment and low financial literacy rate.