The CPF Review

With an election seemingly imminent in 2015, the Singapore government is currently carrying out a “review” of the CPF. Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin threw the first salvo when he was quoted as saying this may meant a review to the much hated minimum sum.

According to the minister, one area being looked at is whether it's possible to have different minimum sums for different groups, depending on their needs. I only have one thing to say to that; forget about it! Singaporeans are not going to accept that as a solution.

The Singapore government need to understand the problem isn’t how much must be kept in the CPF due the minimum sum; it’s the fact that there’s a minimum sum in the first place. Whether it’s $1, $155,000 or $161,000 is kind of beside the main point when your money is struck there in the CPF!

Any changes to the CPF system must take this into account. The problem isn’t the amount we must keep in the CPF; the problem is that there is money belonging to us that we can never access because of the minimum sum policy.

Any review that doesn’t get rid of the minimum sum is an exercise in futilely. Having different minimum sums for different groups is like missing the forest for the trees.