Anwar said acts of misconduct and betrayal of trust must be stopped immediately as TVET has been identified as having great potential to grow and attract foreign investment.

“Courageous action needs to be taken for us to stop the abuse of buying TVET equipment for RM40 million while pocketing RM5 million … or in a flood mitigation project, if the price is RM1 billion, RM200 million gets embezzled,” he said.

“This betrayal must be stopped so that we can return the money to the people. The children have to understand why people are angry with us, why there is talk about corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement. Yes, this is why it is difficult for us to find money now.”

He said he has told the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to search and arrest anyone who steals the people’s rights in order to save the country.

Anwar was officiating the National TVET Day 2024 celebration at the Industrial Training Institute in Kuala Langat here today.

Present were deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the national TVET committee chairman, human resources minister Steven Sim and chief secretary to the government Zuki Ali.

Earlier, Anwar said the government is to spend an additional RM200 million on TVET programmes, with the funding expected to reach 13,000 youths.

He said the funding will be channelled through the Skills Development Fund Corporation to finance students wanting to pursue studies in the areas of energy transition, technology and digital, high-value electrical and electronics, agriculture, and rare earth elements.

Anwar, who is also the finance minister, also said the retargeting of electricity, diesel and chicken subsidies can save the country’s expenses by up to billions of ringgit.

He said that with the money saved from the super rich and foreigners, the government can further ease the burden of the people, including increasing allocations to empower the TVET field.