WOMEN voters who turned up at a Pakatan Harapan ceramah in Alor Star last night said they were particularly interested in the opposition’s election promise of Employees Providence Fund (EPF) contributions for housewives.

“This is a very appropriate proposal given that housewives are among those feeling most pressured by the rising cost of living,” said Hannah Tahar, 50.

“It will help housewives without any income, such as myself. Some housewives totally depend on their husbands, so this proposal is really helpful,” she said when met at the ceramah which drew about 300 people.

The EPF proposal is one of PH’s 10 items that it plans to fulfil within 100 days if it forms the next government.

Though it has been criticised by Barisan Nasional, women’s rights group All Women’s Action Society (Awam) has been reported saying that it was a good step towards recognising the “silent productivity” of housewives and that it should also cover male spouses who stayed at home as “house husbands”.

Though PH’s details on its implementation are short, observers speculate that the proposal would likely involve a percentage of the working spouse’s income to be contributed to the account of the stay-at-home spouse.

Alor Star resident Salasiah Zainal said she felt more positive about PH’s manifesto compared with BN’s as the ruling coalition had been linked to several alleged scandals and misappropriation of funds.

“We are never sure if their programmes actually channel the allocations set aside to the people or not,” said the 57-year old, and she singled out the Permata programme of which caretaker prime minister Najib Razak’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, is patron.

“Like the Permata programme, why does it get such huge allocations?”

Permata is a child and youth development programme and was allocated RM54.3 million by the prime minister under Budget 2018. – May 1, 2018.