On the decision by the Ministry of Manpower to set up a 13-member advisory panel to study possible improvements to the Central Provident Fund (CPF), SMU School of Economics Associate Dean and Professor of Economics Hoon Hian Teck said that beyond representing the views of different groups, the panel should also consider older cohorts separately. Those in their 40s and 50s now might have low CPF savings because their salaries grew from a low base. But this is due to historical circumstances, and should not affect the panel's task of how to improve the CPF system for the decades ahead, he said. Associate Dean of the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business and Professor of Finance Benedict Koh is one of the panel members.