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PRIME MINISTER Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on Malaysia’s youth to take the lead in rejecting corruption and pushing for clean, accountable governance, describing integrity as the foundation of lasting national progress.
“You must be the ones to say, enough of corruption — no more smuggling, no more syndicates,” Anwar told participants at the International Young Future Leaders Summit (iFUTURE 2025 at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur.
He stressed that the country’s leadership must be “clean” and committed to ending unethical practices.
“That is why I repeatedly emphasise governance. Leadership must be honest. We must end this culture of impunity,” he said.
Anwar also challenged traditional economic thinking, which advocates tax hikes to fund public services, by pointing to Malaysia’s recent success in recovering billions in misappropriated funds.
“In the past two years alone, the government has retrieved RM15.5 billion in illicit funds linked to syndicates and cartels,” he said, adding that the perpetrators were not minor offenders but “powerful individuals” who had embezzled vast sums.
He said the funds recovered are now being redirected towards public priorities including education, healthcare and youth welfare.
“If we continue to curb leakages and corruption, we won’t need to overburden the people with taxes,” he said.
Anwar highlighted that the government’s stronger fiscal governance has made it possible to begin offering phased free education for students from the poorest households starting next year.
The programme, he said, would be expanded in line with further improvements to fiscal management, with the ultimate goal of transforming it into a full scholarship scheme.
“If governance remains robust and properly managed, we will gradually expand this until it becomes a fully funded scholarship,” he added.
Also in attendance were Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and Deputy Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud. - October 13, 2025