THE National Film Development Corporation (Finas) and the Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) are working together to raise awareness among the entertainment fraternity of the Self-Employment Social Security Scheme (SKSPS).
Finas chief executive officer Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib said following a memorandum of understanding signed between both parties last month, they were going all out to encourage members of the entertainment industry, especially the film industry, to contribute part of their earnings to the scheme every month.
"The Professional Film Workers Association of Malaysia (Profima) is the first association that we appointed as the industry-wide representative. This is followed by Persatuan Seniman Malaysia (Seniman) and then the Malaysian Film Association Federation (Gafema)," said Azmir at a creative industry dialogue with Perkeso at the Finas headquarters in Hulu Klang recently.
Present were Finas self-employment scheme division head Mohamad Haron Othman, Manpower Department Peninsular Malaysia assistant director-general of law and enforcement Dr Aida Bakar, Film Directors' Association of Malaysia (FDAM) chairman Datuk Afdlin Shauki, Seniman president Zed Zaidi and Profima president Khalil Saleh.
Azmir said Finas and Perkeso would establish a joint task force to ensure that members of the industry continuously contribute to the scheme.
"It is not only about contributing to Socso, but also about finding effective ways for them to join Socso's programmes, especially welfare programmes and those that assist film crew members who are involved in accidents."
Azmir said Finas was striving to increase the membership for SKSPS.
"It takes a bit of time to get things done here, and we have to move in small steps. First things first, for all projects under Finas, we have to make sure that those who receive our incentives need to contribute to Socso," he said, adding that this included filmmakers who wanted to get the Digital Content Fund and Film In Malaysia Incentives.
"From today, all Filming Authentication Certificate (SPP) applicants must have an insurance scheme."
Azmir said Perkeso records showed that up to Feb 16, only 423,256 people or 14.16 per cent of the entertainment industry contributed to SKSPS.
"We hope to see this figure increase following our new initiative with Socso."
Perkeso recently announced that it would set up a special database for artistes, especially in the film industry, who contributed to SKSPS.
Haron said the database would allow Finas to conduct quick and accurate checks on artistes who contributed to Perkeso.
Last month, Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said film companies must contribute to Perkeso before they could obtain SPPs for their projects.
Sim said Perkeso and Finas had agreed to this move as people working in the film industry were frequently exposed to workplace mishaps.
He also said SKSPS would act as a "buffer" for artistes, who face risks and challenges in the entertainment industry in their line of duty.
Gafema, which consists of 11 major entities in the local film industry, fully supported the efforts by Perkeso and Finas.
Its president, Pansha, said more than 4,500 members of the creative industry would benefit from the initiative.