RETIRED sailor Goh Tor Zin said he lost $350,000 of his Central Provident Fund savings through bad stock market investments, and yesterday made a radical suggestion at a ministerial dialogue.

The 59-year-old Kampong Kembangan resident sought a ban on using CPF money for such investments, saying the CPF scheme should stick to its original aims of helping Singaporeans save for their retirement, medical and housing needs: 'When I retired, I collected only $35,000. I lost $350,000. The sum may be small for some, but for me, I can buy many packets of chicken rice.'

Mr Goh, who is unmarried and lives with his 91-year-old father in a five-room Lengkong Tiga flat, said he made a similar suggestion to the CPF when he collected his CPF money on turning 55: 'They told me that I don't have to buy (shares), and that no one forced me to do so. I said, 'Yes if you don't sell drugs, I won't buy drugs. So you are not wrong, I am also not wrong'.'

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