This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 15, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Registration for Caruman Sukarela Insentif Suri (i-Suri), an Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme for Malaysian housewives, opens today, and those eligible may participate in i-Suri by registering as an EPF member at any 67 EPF branches nationwide.

In a statement, EPF deputy chief executive officer (operations) Datuk Mohd Naim Daruwish said housewives, widows and single mothers listed in eKasih, the national database on poverty, can register for i-Suri and contribute a minimum of RM5 monthly to their retirement savings accounts, to be eligible to receive the government incentive of RM40 per month, which will be deposited into their EPF accounts.

Eligible individuals signing up for i-Suri will enjoy the same benefits as those of EPF members, such as annual dividends on their retirement savings, Age 50, 55 and 60 Withdrawal, Incapacitation Benefit and Death Benefit. All this is in addition to the government’s RM40 incentive.

The i-Suri registration follows the launch of the Suri Housewives Incentive by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail last week.

According to statistics from eKasih, there are a total of 221,890 housewives, 98,536 widows and 28,116 divorcees from the hardcore poor segment eligible for the government’s incentive by participating in i-Suri.