Malaysia’s PM Anwar reframes policies on class, shifting from racial lenses

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's remarks dovetail with the government’s long-term agenda of fiscal consolidation by tackling energy subsidies and low tax revenues.

Analysts see Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s policy pivot as a means to ditch what has been a losing battle with the largely Malay Muslim nationalist opposition on ethnocentric issues.

PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN

Shannon Teoh

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KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s sudden announcement that Malaysia will exclude wealthy students from education subsidies in Budget 2025 is the clearest salvo so far in his attempts to frame policies based on class, rather than race.

Since taking power in November 2022, he has repeatedly prefaced unpopular moves such as

subsidy cuts

and

tax hikes

by claiming the mahakaya (ultra-rich) have benefited disproportionately from government largesse.

Malaysia’s PM Anwar reframes policies on class, shifting from racial lenses

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