EPF says sorry to bedridden-cancer patient and family

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 -- The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) today apologised to its member and her family over an unpleasant service experience where a cancer-stricken bed-ridden woman was made to show up at its Johor Bahru office in order to withdraw her contribution to the retirement fund.

"The EPF is deeply saddened and regretted the incident that went viral on social media. We apologise to the member and her family for having gone through an uncomfortable experience.

"The EPF had contacted and met with the member and her family to understand their real situation,” said its Corporate Relations Department in a statement here today.

Apart from assisting its members, the EPF said it would also use this experience to improve existing processes in providing a better and compassionate service for all members.

 "We would like to stress that the EPF takes complaints and feedback from members about our service seriously to make continuous improvements," it said.

Yesterday, the patient's sister, Nur Sheila Abdullah, said she was told that her sister had to be at the EPF office in person for a thumbprint scan before she could withdraw the balance from her EPF account.

Nur Sheila said that despite explaining that her 56-year-old sister was bedridden and suffering from cancer, the officer insisted that her sister came in person to the Johor Baru EPF office.

In her post, Nur Sheila detailed how she had gotten an ambulance and stretcher to help transport her sister to the EPF office.

-- BERNAMA