For the Employees' Provident Fund to now moot its intention to stagger contributors' payment at retirement age can only mean that this cash cow is finally staring at the barn door of dwindling liquidity.

The only other justifying factor to immerse the nation into such agitation would be to keep citizens in the dark over another nastier national quagmire.

Is the EPF preparing itself for a new era of milking, which would require a creative financial projection, given the political time frame? That EPF will face liquidity problem sooner than later has not really been a surprise; its public announcement has simply been veiled.

The liquidity issue was shaped ever since former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad embarked on an EPF spending spree during his mega project days - steamrolling hard management facts with his line of wisdom: build now is cheaper than later.

We should now pause and ask: what has changed for the EPF to now make this pronouncement at the given timing? It is not as if in 2004 the number of retirees will suddenly increase. It is not as if the EPF has suddenly completed it financial projection and noticed a statistical mismatch in its cash flow projection.

The EPF has always been aware of these statistical and financial facts; how else can the government take pride in a national EPF organisation, if a private insurance company can do better actuarial management? There has to be other reason(s) for EPF to make this public proposal now. Whatever that may be, let us all brace up; it looks like the legacy is coming to haunt us Malaysians.

Back to the EPF: its core business is managing its members' funds, to inspire hope of growth over a period of time, upon which retirement is the contractually guaranteed refund deadline.

How illogical then can EPF be now to acquire a 'beyond' retirement time frame into its fund horizon! Surely, it has problems enough to do its balancing act up to retirement age. To further muddle itself, EPF is now taking on board a new investment criteria: that of saving members from financial black holes. As if it has the Midas touch.

Its proposals were made without so much of a sharing of statistical analysis with the public! Surely, those board members and senior management in EPF are professional enough to understand that public cooperation is better garnered with hard facts.

But wait...what else does EPF have up its sleeve? Look back at the diminishing returns it has been offering, compared to Amanah Saham Bumiputra . Look back at its failure on the computer withdrawal scheme. Look back at its annuity investment scheme. (Help me, I can not find any recent EPF positive achievements to balance itself).

From these, EPF is seen to be stumbling from one disaster to another. All these have induced the insecurity of loyal members like myself who have never taken out any loans from the EPF.

Is this the standards that we have achieved? Have we really, as a nation, degenerated into this cesspool? Against battering perceptions, I have strived to uphold the belief that our Malaysian fabric is still intact, that there is every reason to be proud of the way we live. But reading EPF's latest proposal, I can no longer feel the same. The least the EPF can do is to regain public confidence by having a CEO of impeccable standards. The current CEO should resign over the insecurity he created.