LETTER | I had penned my personal perspective of a financial saving scheme, Adam50, which was introduced by the previous government via Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

When it was first announced by the then chairperson of PNB, Adam50 had my full support despite my rebuke against Najib Abdul Razak’s premiership.

As an about-to-get-married man at the time, I imagined that this financial saving initiative could embolden parental effort to financially prepare their newly-born babies in pursuing their future tertiary education.

Sadly, this initiative won’t be continued. I’m very sure that other Malaysian parents are disappointed as well with the discontinuation of this saving scheme which could improve their discipline to save money for their children's greater future.

I’m unsure about the valid reason behind its termination but I really hope on behalf of the concerned Malaysian parents that the Adam50 initiative will at least be re-branded with realistic, renovated content that will bring more visible financial benefits to every parent, especially low-income earners.

In reality, not all parents, especially newly-engaged couples, are economically able to save thousands a month. With Adam50, parents’ efforts to save money for their kids can be bolstered by supplementary benefits that could be added by PNB into the scheme.

In my mind, as a suggestion for these supplementary benefits, PNB could restart the scheme by asserting to potential savers that Adam50 or its new version will be distributing special extra dividends every year-end based on the savers’ consistency of saving every month.

For instance, those who consistently save more than RM300 a month could be entitled to at least an 8.5 percent annual dividend.

This annual dividend can then be withdrawn but only for education-related purposes like school fees and other such expenditures. Like withdrawals of EPF savings for PTPTN repayments, there must be required documents with valid verification for the withdrawal of such Adam50 dividends.

In other words, for Adam50, the dividends can only be cashed out for certain purposes.

The majority of voters, including me, had voted out BN and its unpleasant leaders in the last election but that doesn’t really mean that beneficial initiatives like the Adam50 savings scheme should also be discontinued.

I wish that PNB with the government of Pakatan Harapan could consider reactivating this savings scheme with fresh substance and perhaps, a new name.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.