CPF members should stop government abuse of our retirement savings

Dear CPF members

Enough has been said and written about our CPF scheme and its abuse by the government. It’s time to stop whining and take action to prevent further abuse.

We are not all helpless and should cease entertaining this self-defeating thought. Can we really do anything to free ourselves from government abuse of our retirement savings? Of course.

A single entity fighting the government stands no chance but collectively, the government will have to concede. Do not forget that the government derives its power from the people.

The solution: A class-action lawsuit against the government.

This will not be a mere request or begging the government for transparency and accountability in the management of hundreds of billions in CPF monies. CPF members will demand for a full set of accounts to be published.

On the assumption that GIC’s 6% rate of return claims are factual, we seek the return of the difference between the amount paid to CPF members and what GIC claims to have earned.  Plus interest.

We also seek the return of our CPF savings at 55.  Returning our CPF through monthly installments at 65 – till we die – is not acceptable.

Neither will we accept:
– Frequent tweaks of CPF rules which have impacted the well-being of hundreds of thousands of retirees.
– The appointment of unqualified CEOs such as former military personnel/civil servant with no prior fund management experience.

We are also opposed to government abuse of our retirement savings to:
– Conceal the size of our national reserves.
– Channel tens of billions to a single fund manager, government-linked GIC.

We seek a revamp of the failed CPF scheme which should be simplified. To increase retirement funding, a higher percentage of wages should be allocated to CPF SA with a corresponding reduction in CPF OA allocation.

The limits to the use of CPF MA – arbitrarily implemented by the government – for hospitalization, insurance premiums, etc must be removed. After all, this is our money.

The government should also appoint other non government-related fund managers to manage our CPF savings.

Besides the above, other factors will also be taken into consideration after CPF members have confirmed their support for the class-action lawsuit.

Costs

The lawsuit will be funded by CPF members through crowdfunding. Depending on the number of CPF members involved, the cost should not be prohibitive, eg 10,000 members X $100 = $1 million or 100,000 members X $10 = $1 million.

Transparency and accountability are of utmost importance and details could be worked out at a later date.

The question is whether this approach will work?  There is reason for optimism.

A class-action suit will throw the foreign media spotlight on the abject failure of our CPF scheme. It was the fear of foreign media scrutiny that forced PAP to concede to the return of 20% of CPF at 65, thanks to Roy’s persistent efforts. We should continue with the fight to reclaim every cent in CPF which belongs to us.

The government has already proven it is not interested in revamping the failed CPF scheme by further postponing CPF payout and channeling additional billions in tax dollars into GIC. We should not hope for the government to come clean on its own.

CPF members should collectively take responsibility for having allowed the government to treat transparency and accountability as negotiable issues.

Enough is enough and it’s time to “do good, do together”. 🙂

Phillip Ang

PS

Why should any government fear transparency, ie refuse to disclose material information which belongs in the public domain? Should material information pertaining to the management of $346 billion in CPF be privy to only a handful of ministers?