KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): Malaysia needs to look into renegotiating social contracts to promote citizens' rights, ensure decent jobs with a dignified wage structure and enhance inclusivity through social dialogues and collective bargaining.

“The post-Covid-19 economy requires us to take a new look towards renegotiating our social contracts. At the heart of a strong social contract, therein lies the virtuous cycle, which includes greater trust, increased investment in quality provisions, commitment to the public mandate and, most importantly, decent work for all.

“Hence, we need more conversations, utilising the tripartite mechanism involving the government, businesses and the public in order to create a better economy, a better society and a better world,” according to Employees Provident Fund (EPF) chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan. 

Speaking at the EPF’s International Social Wellbeing Conference titled "The New Narrative: Turning the Tide on Inequality" on Wednesday (Nov 24), he said the impact of inequalities had been a challenging issue that hinders the development of communities around the world. 

“With the pandemic, pre-existing conditions of inequality have been compounded, leading to even more unfavourable social and economic conditions.

“However, with a major crisis lies an even greater opportunity. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought inequalities into a sharper focus and concern. The value of decent work, good health, quality education and a meaningful standard of living have now been brought into a new light,” he said. 

He noted that there needs to be further discussions on social protection policies that are aimed at addressing shortcomings and to promote access for all in order to achieve a better quality of life. 

“As inequality arises from the lack of opportunities and resources for those who need it most, we need to look into consolidating efforts across all stakeholders, be it from the public or the private sector. Understanding and exploring the dynamics of public-private collaboration to spur economic growth is a key strategy for us to explore.

“In the EPF, we have started dialogue and partnership programmes with Grab to incentivise Grab’s community of drivers and delivery-partners to build their retirement savings via the EPF’s i-Saraan programme. 

“This collaboration has managed to attract more e-hailing drivers to save for their retirement, and so far, 10,000 partners have registered for the programme. We believe that mobilising our resources and efforts together is highly imperative to overcome the pressing problems of the nation,” he said.

Amir Hamzah said the country also needs bold strategies for social justice, decent work as well as creating a sustainable and resilient future for children.

“Social protection has an important role to play in addressing inequalities and building inclusive societies. Many nations have accelerated their efforts in utilising social protection tools as a response to the pandemic. 

“As social protection gains more prominence, I believe that this brings us to the question — how do we build resilience to face the next crisis?

“As the social and economic environment continuously shifts and vulnerabilities are exposed, we are now at a crossroad. We need to rethink how our organisations, communities and public policies are built in order for us to address the needs of every individual,” he said.