In our published paper nearly a decade ago, we wrote that “… scant attention is given to the plight of low-income workers in a situation of rising inequality caused by widening pay-gaps or differences in actual wages”, and “low average savings balances raise the question of retirement adequacy at desired income replacement rates” (Hamid and Chai, 2013).

We stated that, “Since either expanding the accumulation phase or setting a minimum sum balance would result in unpopular delayed pay-outs, other solutions must be found to compensate for the shortfall in savings for old age among the low-income group”.

Among the solutions discussed in our limited interactions with the provident fund in those days, a progressive dividend rate was heavily resisted as it was deemed unfair to provide different returns for the different segments of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributors.

As such, I view with amusement the speed of the fund in implementing the Conventional Savings and Syariah Savings in 2016 that has resulted in lower dividend returns for the latter.

EPF could have easily introduced different portfolios of funds according to their risk-adjusted performance returns for different age or socioeconomic groups, and the issue of tiered dividend structure would have mattered naught. As recent as late March 2021, the then chief executive officer, Tunku Alizakri Alias, remained uncommitted to the idea, seeking to let the government and EPF members make such hard decision calls.

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