KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wants the welfare of vulnerable groups in this country to continue to be given attention in line with the concept of MADANI economy.
Taking the example of the education sector, he said there are children of the rich who enjoy government-funded educational facilities compared to the poor.
“As far as I understand, the majority benefits the elite groups such as senior civil servants, political leaders, leading entrepreneurs who are sending their children to the best schools funded by the government and this is unreasonable, unfair.
“Should a child of the rich (who) be sent to the Faculty of Engineering, (whether) Malay, Chinese or Iban, he should pay, so that we can meet the demand, otherwise this subsidy will continue. This revenue will then be used to help the poor more,“ he said.
He said this when he opened the National Symposium: Eradicating Poverty in Putrajaya today, which was also attended by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.
Therefore Anwar, who is also the Minister of Finance, said that all forms of leakages, including education subsidies to the children of the rich, should stop.
While giving an indication on continuous government protection of vulnerable groups in Budget 2025, Anwar said the stopping of subsidies to the rich, will be diverted to help the poor.
He said, the government does not want the people to be left behind in the progress of the country just because they are not given the right opportunities.
“If this country means independence and freedom as well as justice, then the focus should be there (education), where schools should see continuous efforts to improve facilities, capabilities and quality.
“How should we do it? By ensuring funds are distributed. How can the funds be distributed? The form of leakage, including the children of the wealthiest groups to science secondary schools that are aided and heavily subsidised by the government, should be stopped,“ he said.
According to Anwar, he is aware that some of the actions taken by his government are not popular with some but they need to be done for the welfare of the needy.
Anwar said that apart from the poor, children with special needs such as autism also need to be given attention by the government, in line with the sixth pillar in MADANI, which is kindness.
Meanwhile, he also wants the approach of channeling government funds to the poor to be re-evaluated so that the aid is not misused and managed according to proper procedures.
According to Anwar, there are agencies that are responsible for caring for the poor and found that they use 80 per cent of the funds allocated for the management of the department and the rest is then channeled to the target groups.
“You talk about allocations, but funds allocated to departments and agencies that are leaked and drained are not discussed, therefore fighting corruption in that environment should not be taken lightly
“Is it reasonable for a body that was established to help the poor, pay the management the highest (with the amount) and travel first class around the world.
“The poverty eradication fund is already one of the highest in the world, but is it really effective, how much is leaked, how much is spent on management, how should we determine that the aid is to be independent and free the poor from the shackles of poverty,“ he said.
He meanwhile said the problem of severe poverty in this country can only be solved by liberating the vulnerable through the implementation of effective programmes by the government.
Anwar said that efforts to help the vulnerable groups need to be done until they are economically ‘independent’ or able to be independent and not just to survive, so that the group is spared from ‘dependency syndrome’.
According to Anwar, the government under his administration is determined to find a complete solution in curbing the issue of extreme poverty in this country.
“That’s why if the programmes presented include the People’s Income Initiative, it’s not a matter of financial assistance, it gives them space to work, free them and then they no longer depend on them and then this is a sign of success for us,“ he said.
