This. All the figures are talking about the figure depositors have NOW, meaning it's 40k post-compounding interest (for the ones soon to retire anyway).
The younger ones who joined the 40k withdrawals for stupid reasons may be dumb, but atleast they still have time to build it all back up.

From the calculator:
https://www.ppa.my/retirement-calculator/


Assuming 25 years old, income starting at RM1.5k, increment matching inflation at 3%. Your EPF would be atleast 480k by the time you retire.

Not saying the withdrawals didn't do anything to worsen the situation, but it's just a small part of the equation.

The setting is for 60-80 (20 years).
The passive income generation part is up to the individual if they want to take their savings out after retirement, etc. etc.

My point is even with RM1.5k salary and you just continue to work, getting to RM240k (figure specified by EPF) is not a hard target to reach.
CNA's reporting of alot of members with <50k before the age of 55, meaning even if the 40k withdrawal didn't happen they're still shy of RM100k.
That's what I meant by the withdrawal being only a part of the equation why people can't afford to retire. It's being politicized too much for people to see that the withdrawal is not the sole reason for it.