CENTRAL PROVIDENT FUND CONTRIBUTIONS WITHDRAWAL

Mr Cyrille Tan asked the Minister for Manpower what is his Ministry's stand on the Malaysian Trade Union Congress' decision to bring up to the International Labour Organization a dispute of the withdrawal of West Malaysians' Central Provident Fund contributions.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Recently there was a newspaper report concerning a comment by the President of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) that he would be taking up the CPF withdrawal issue with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). He was also reported to have accused the Singapore Government of discriminating against West Malaysians in the CPF withdrawal rules. His accusation is completely baseless.

As I have explained in this House, West Malaysian CPF members are distinguished from other foreign CPF members because of the historical links between Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. West Malaysians in fact are given preferential treatment over Singapore members. They can withdraw their full CPF savings from age 50, without having to set aside the minimum sum, provided that they have not worked in Singapore for at least 2 years prior to the withdrawal request. Singaporeans can only do so at the age of 55, after setting aside the prevailing minimum sum. All foreigners working in Singapore, including West Malaysians, were well aware of these rules upon assuming employment in Singapore since 1971. They are therefore bound by the withdrawal rules that they had accepted when they first came to work in Singapore. Changes to the CPF withdrawal conditions for West Malaysians are being discussed between PM Goh Chok Tong and PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the context of wider co-operation between Singapore and Malaysia. Once an agreement is reached, this issue can be resolved conclusively.

In our view, there is no basis for the MTUC to file any complaint with the ILO. As far as we are aware, there is no constitutional procedure under the ILO for a trade union of one country to file a complaint against the Government of another country on a bilateral issue.

Notwithstanding this and in the event that the MTUC does file a complaint with the ILO, the Singapore Government will respond accordingly.