“Shared Prosperity Vision” will be to return to Malaysia of the 60s and 70s

Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak emphasised on “Technical and Vocational Education and Training” to address the disparity between urban and rural Malaysians back in the 1960s and 1970s

(MMO) – Putrajaya’s economic policies will emphasise raising the skills of low-income earners to help the group catch up with more affluent Malaysians in its Shared Prosperity Vision, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

After an unusual weekend Cabinet meeting here to discuss the matter today, the prime minister said such efforts were necessary to ensure higher income is accompanied by increased productivity for the country.

Dr Mahathir also said there was a need to address disparities between urban and rural Malaysians as well as a widening wealth gap in the country.

“The poor, we found, are too poor compared to the rich, and we need to increase their income but not by just increasing salaries. We need to improve the abilities and skills of our workers for them to become more productive while working at the same place.

“We will give training to them so that they have the ability that is more efficient and so that they can do more advanced jobs,” he told a press conference today.

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will take a leading role towards this goal, he explained.

Recipients of government contracts and approved permits (AP) would also be upskilled to ensure they could directly benefit from these instead of selling them off as is usual, he added.

The prime minister added that indiscriminately handing out contracts and APs only inflated appearances for short term but did not contribute towards the final goal of uplifting the needy that he said would take time.

“If they are not qualified we will give training to them until they are qualified,” he said.