Mr Lim visited the Woodlands Service Centre on 26 June 2019 to request to use his CPF savings for his daughter’s school fees.
To safeguard their retirement savings, members aged 55 and above can use their Ordinary Account savings for education, only after they have set aside their Full Retirement Sum, or Basic Retirement Sum (with property). As Mr Lim did not have sufficient CPF savings for a basic retirement, allowing him to use his CPF for his daughter’s education is not appropriate. The better approach is to find other ways to finance his daughter’s school fees.
We spoke to Mr Lim to offer alternative options and he subsequently agreed to consider the option of using a family member’s CPF savings for his daughter’s school fees. Our staff sought agreement from the family member and provided guidance on the steps to submit the online application. We had also arranged for the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts to be in touch with Mr Lim to explore other ways to finance his daughter’s school fees.
CPF officers are trained to serve with empathy and to partner the customer to find solutions. This partnership works best if the customer does his part in considering different options and treating our officers with respect. Having reviewed our video recording, we are satisfied that our staff had served Mr Lim professionally and not in the provocative way that Mr Lim described in his post. Mr Lim explained that he was upset and offered his apology which our staff has accepted.
(CPF Facebook post)
WhatsApp image (JPG, 0.7MB)