KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called upon young Malaysians to take the lead in rejecting corruption and upholding good governance principles.
He stressed that integrity and accountability are essential to sustaining the nation’s advancement.
Anwar declared that leadership must be clean and eliminate corruption throughout the country.
“I need the support of the young,“ he said during the ‘In Conversation with Prime Minister’ session at the International Young Future Leaders Summit 2025.
“You must take the lead,“ he added.
“You must say no more corruption in this country, no smuggling, no syndicates.”
The Prime Minister noted that addressing leakages and corruption can be more effective than increasing taxation for revenue generation.
He revealed that the government successfully recovered RM15.5 billion in illicit funds from various syndicates and cartels over the past two years.
“There are still leakages, corruption, smuggling and cartels,“ Anwar stated.
“Why don’t we deal with this first?”
He emphasized that those involved are powerful individuals who have squandered billions rather than small players.
“The government must recover these funds and spend them for the people, for education, healthcare and the young,“ he said.
Anwar highlighted that success in curbing corruption enabled new social initiatives including phased free education for the very poor beginning next year.
He said this initiative would gradually expand with improvements in national governance and fiscal management.
“If governance remains strong and right, we will slowly expand it until eventually, it becomes a scholarship,“ he concluded. – Bernama
