MALAYSIA must rid itself of its dependency on government handouts to the poor without looking for solutions to alleviate this group from poverty, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said today.

Anwar and former prime minister Najib Razak faced off today in a debate that took place at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (MaTic) in Kuala Lumpur.

“Cash is king is a dependency syndrome,” Anwar said to a crowd of 400 made up of government and opposition members.

“We give money to the poor so they feel indebted, not so that we can free them.

“We must have a target to free them of poverty. This is a serious matter, especially among the Malays. The wealth disparity between rich and poor Malays is huge.”

Earlier, in a question from a member of the audience, Najib explained that when he said “cash is king”, the king in question was the people.

“When I said cash is king, the king was the people and the best way to help the people is by direct bank transfers.

“We give it to all, it doesn’t matter who they support. They can use the money to buy whatever they want.

“We should not be telling the people to ‘ikat perut’ (starve or cut back), when they are suffering,” Najib said.

He reiterated that if the goods and services tax was not abolished in 2018, Malaysia would have a surplus of RM30 billion which could be used as handouts and subsidies for the people now.

The debate today is the first time Najib and Anwar have debated publicly.

In attendance were several Umno leaders including Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, its secretary-general Ahmad Maslan, supreme council member Puad Zakarshi and Noh Omar.

In Anwar’s corner, Pandan lawmaker Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was seated in the front row, along with DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil and Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming. – May 13, 2022.