The government is doing all they can to help the people, including allowing them to withdraw money from their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings to cope:

And now, they're looking to help even more people affected by the pandemic.

A good move?

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz told New Straits Times that the government is currently considering expanding the eligibility of contributors for withdrawals from Account 1.

Currently, under the Budget 2021, Malaysians who have lost their jobs or source of income are allowed to withdraw up to RM12,000 from their Account 1 and Account 2.

This would benefit 600,000 citizens, Tengku Zafrul said, and the government is looking at expanding that to help more people.

However, the proposal is still in its infancy stage.

"The government will consider public requests on the withdrawal from Account 1. We are still negotiating and the discussion process with the EPF is still ongoing for us to expand this by taking into account the people's concerns.

"So, after the negotiations are over, we have to wait a few more days for me and the EPF to announce the effort to expand it to more than 600,000 people. We will also explain why we do that," he was quoted as saying.

EPF has announced that details about i-Sinar, the platform Malaysians can use to make withdrawals, will be made available on Wednesday (18 November).

According to EPF, applications for i-Sinar will start in December, and the amount will be debited into the members' account beginning January 2021.