The Big Read: As Singapore society ages, who will care for the caregivers? Toggle share menu
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The Big Read: As Singapore society ages, who will care for the caregivers? Caring for an invalid elderly demands a lot from the caregivers even in the best of times; in perilous times it gets worse.
Ms Jasmine Chua caring for her 84-year-old mother who has dementia. (Photo: TODAY/Raj Nadarajan)
08 Mar 2021 06:10AM) Share this content
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SINGAPORE: At his wits’ end, Mr Danny Raven Tan, 53, once threatened his dementia-stricken mother with a chopper because she was “driving him nuts”.
Since she was diagnosed with the illness that causes impaired intellectual functions and personality changes in 2015, his mother, who is now 88, would tiresomely ask him about his father and godmother, both of whom had died, frequently raise her voice at him and accuse their helper of stealing her money.
Saturday, 06 Mar 2021 05:59 PM MYT
Ms Jasmine Chua caring for her 84-year-old mother who has dementia. Photo by Raj Nadarajan for TODAY
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SINGAPORE, March 6 At his wits’ end, Mr Danny Raven Tan, 53, once threatened his dementia-stricken mother with a chopper because she was “driving him nuts”.
Since she was diagnosed with the illness that causes impaired intellectual functions and personality changes in 2015, his mother, who is now 88, would tiresomely ask him about his father and godmother, both of whom had died, frequently raise her voice at him and accuse their helper of stealing her money.
RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star
Despite 2020 being a bad year in terms of the pandemic and economic downturn, on Feb 27, 2021, Malaysian retirement savings fund, the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), declared a dividend of 5.2% for conventional savings and 4.9% for syariah savings for 2020, amounting to a total payout of RM47.64bil.
This could be the main reason why EPF had earlier announced its readiness to allow an unconditional withdrawal of funds by those who are most affected by the economic downturn brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The reason the fund has been able to give out a respectable dividend is because its investments overseas and on fixed income instruments in 2020 produced good returns. With some 14 million contributors, the fund achieved a net investment income of RM37.83mil for the first nine months of 2020, with its fixed income portfolio recording an income of more than RM22bil in the same period.
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DESPITE 2020 being a bad year in terms of the pandemic and economic downturn, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), a retirement savings fund responsible for ensuring members’ retirement wellbeing, has been able to declare a dividend of 5.2% for conventional savings and 4.9% for syariah savings for 2020, with a total payout of RM47.64 billion.
And this could be the main reason why it had earlier announced its readiness to allow an unconditional withdrawal of EPF funds for those who are mostly affected by the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic.
The reason why the retirement fund is able to dole out a respectable dividend is because its investments overseas and on fixed income instruments in 2020 had produced good returns.
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Amid the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, 36 per cent more Central Provident Fund (CPF) members made account top-ups under the Retirement Sum Topping-Up Scheme, putting in a total of $3 billion in their or their loved ones accounts.
The Board yesterday said $1.2 billion of top-ups were made in the fourth quarter of last year alone.
In total, about 140,000 members boosted CPF savings last year.
More than one in three were first-timers, an increase of more than 50 per cent compared with the previous year, said the CPF Board.
The total top-ups last year were also 40 per cent more than the amount in 2019. Experts said the increase was probably spurred by rising awareness of the benefits of using CPF to save.