Bold T-shirt about CPF goes viral as PAP group calls for higher CPF contribution rates for seniors who “need to be even more self-reliant”

A picture of a man publicly wearing a bold T-shirt calling for the authorities to return his Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings has been going viral online. The picture first surfaced on Reddit before making its way to social media websites like Facebook and Twitter.

The picture of the bold T-shirt is circulating online as issues over CPF’s withdrawal age, payout mechanism and contribution rates have come to the forefront in recent weeks.

Just yesterday, the People’s Action Party Senior Group (PAP.SG) released a 21-page position paper calling for higher CPF contribution rates for senior citizens. The group is calling for the contribution rate for workers aged 55 and older to be raised to 37 per cent.

The current CPF contribution rates are:
Workers under 55: 37 percent CPF contribution rate, employers give 17 percent
Workers aged 55-60: 26 percent CPF contribution rate, employers give 13 percent
Workers aged 60-65: 16.5 percent CPF contribution rate, employers give 9 percent
Workers 65 and older: 12.5 percent CPF contribution rate, employers give 7.5 percent

Revealing that the group’s proposal will be tabled in Parliament on 11 Feb, Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin, who chairs PAP.SG, said at a press conference that the group is pushing for this “so that all members continue to enjoy the same level of (contributions) regardless of how old they are.”

The PAP group added: “With longer life expectancy and a smaller base of family support, Singaporeans need to be even more self-reliant in securing a stream of lifelong income for retirement.”

This is not the only CPF-related issue to be raised in the past month alone. CPF has continued to be a hot-topic in Singapore with heated discussions on CPF’s minimum withdrawal age and payout mechanism dominating headlines, in the recent past:

https://theindependent.sg.sg/forum-letter-writer-disputes-manpower-ministers-argument-against-lowering-minimum-cpf-withdrawal-age/

https://theindependent.sg.sg/forum-letter-writer-tells-cpf-board-to-stop-blaming-the-people-for-starting-payout-delay-rumour/

https://theindependent.sg.sg/multiple-pap-mps-oppose-revising-cpf-automatic-payout-mechanism-to-start-at-age-65/

https://theindependent.sg.sg/elderly-singaporean-decries-482-monthly-cpf-payouts-over-an-illogical-period-of-28-years/

https://theindependent.sg.sg/pap-seniors-group-proposes-increasing-cpf-contribution-rate-for-workers-aged-55-and-older/