Wannabe “Robin Hood” Anwar Ibrahim proudly announced during his Budget 2025 speech last October that subsidies for RON95 fuel would be cut for Malaysians in the top 15% (T15) of the country’s income group. The plan was to save about RM8 billion annually as Malaysia currently spends about RM20 billion a year on fuel subsidies enjoyed by both foreigners and super-rich Malaysians.
The PM argued that the blanket subsidies for RON95 petrol were unfairly benefiting foreigners as well as the top 15% of earners – referring to households earning a monthly income of around RM13,000 or more. The savings from the subsidy cut will be used for programmes to improve the welfare and livelihoods of Malaysians, claimed Anwar.
But “Mr Formula” Rafizi Ramli, the then-Economy Minister tasked to spearhead fiscal reform, admitted that household income will not and cannot be the only factor that determines who qualifies for subsidized RON95 petrol. There were other factors besides the B40 (bottom 40% of income earner), M40 (middle 40%) and T20 categories. It would be painful, but Rafizi insisted that the people have to bite the bullet.
“We are prepared for the choppy waters ahead. Obviously there will be people affected and there’ll be people unhappy with it and people have to adjust their consumption, so I do expect a lot of noise in the beginning,” – said the Mr Rafizi, who considered the historical reform as the “once-in-a-generation decision” that affects everyone’s life, but was absolutely necessary.
Another genius – Second Minister for Finance Amir Hamzah Azizan – kept saying that the details of the subsidy implementation, such as income threshold and mechanisms, were still under discussion. Despite uncertainties, doubts, and unknowns, all of them – Anwar, Rafizi and Amir – shared the same belief: by hook or by crook, the subsidy must be slashed and the tocp-15% cannot enjoy subsidized petrol.
Since then, Anwar has been attacking the “Maha Kaya (ultra-rich)”, lecturing them to contribute back the to the society. And forcing them to pay top dollar for fuel is one of them. From slapping higher electricity and water tariff on rich businessmen to excluding wealthy students from education subsidies, the premier openly declares war on the so-called Maha Kaya category citizens.
In fact, Anwar’s hatred for the ultra-rich, or his pretence to champion the poor, began since taking power in November 2022. He has repeatedly prefaced unpopular moves such as subsidy cuts and tax hikes by claiming the mahakaya have benefited disproportionately from government largesse, even though the mega-rich contributes the highest tax to the national coffers.
Heck, the clueless prime minister has even declared war on avocado under the pretext of taxing the rich people’s fruits after his Madani government expanded the SST (service and sales tax) to also collect taxes from the poor people’s fruits like apples and oranges. His obsession to project himself as Robin Hood backfired, with people mocking and ridiculing his idiocy.
During Mahathir’s 22 years iron-fist rule (1981-2003), Malaysia has subsidised petrol prices since the early 1980s to keep fuel prices affordable while facilitating economic growth. Currently, RON95 petrol costs RM2.05 per litre in Malaysia, the second-lowest price in Southeast Asia behind Brunei. But the chicken has come home to roost after decades of artificially keeping the cost of living low with cheap fuel.
On Monday (September 22), Anwar announced that all Malaysians, regardless of income, will enjoy subsidised RON95 prices of RM1.99 per litre, down from the current RM2.05 per litre, beginning September 30. The best part is the mahakaya like Mahathir Mohamad and all ultra-rich corrupt politicians will also enjoy up to 300 litres a month of subsidised RON95 fuel.
To prevent foreigners from enjoying the subsidy, Malaysians must validate their MyKad – their national identity cards – at the pump to be eligible. Foreigners with Malaysia-registered vehicles will pay the unsubsidised RON95 price of about RM2.60 per litre. Meanwhile, those who require additional capacity for the subsidised transport fuel beyond the allocated individual limit – such as ride-hailing drivers – may apply for it.
At best, silly Anwar finally realized that the mahakaya whom he despised for almost 3 years is no different than ordinary Malaysians eligible to enjoy the same rights and privileges. At worst, drama king Anwar had to make the embarrassing U-turn in order not to offend the ultra-rich, whose votes in the 16th General Election could make or break his hidden ambition for a second term.
From bragging that his strong leadership would finally save at least RM8 billion annually from about RM20 billion a year on fuel subsidies enjoyed by both foreigners and super-rich Malaysians, Finance Minister Anwar‘s new sidekick Amir Hamzah now justified that the new move would still save the government between RM2.5 billion to RM4 billion a year.
When asked about criticism that the government was not saving the original target of RM8 billion, Amir, in an attempt to help his boss save face, argues that saving RM2.5 billion was still a huge achievement. But he can’t explain satisfactorily why the mahakaya is allowed to enjoy subsidized RON95 petrol after his boss Anwar had sworn to destroy the loophole for the ultra-rich.
Assuming that the Anwar Madanistan could indeed save RM2.5 billion with the latest half-baked plan, it means foreigners – especially Singaporeans (about 4.5 million cars) – have been taking advantage of the country’s RON95 petrol subsidy every year. They can’t be Indonesians, Bangladeshi, Nepalis, or Pakistanis because these cheap labours do not drive.
However, Singaporeans entering Malaysia were mostly tourists contributing to domestic economy, taking advantage of their strong currency to holiday, dine, shop and pump subsidized RON95. Even if they have to pump at a higher price of RM2.60 a litre, it is still cheaper compared to Singapore, where grade-95 petrol is being sold at SGD2.88 (RM9.40) per litre.
The second top foreigner was Thais, known for smuggling subsidized fuel in Malaysia – filling up with petrol, re-entering Thailand and offloading the petrol before returning to Malaysia and repeat the process. The burning question is why the Malaysian authorities refuse to stop the smuggling, despite knowing with pinpoint accuracy the petrol stations working hand-in-glove with the smugglers.
Malaysia-Thailand border isn’t like the U.S.-Mexico border stretching 3,000 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. There’s only one reason why the 400-km Malaysia-Thai border with just 8 entry points continues to see fuel smuggling activities – corruption. Unfortunately, empty vessel Anwar government was too terrified to offend the powerful and corrupt immigration department.
Therefore, whether it were the Singaporeans enjoying subsidized RON95 or the Thais smuggling petrol, the leakages will continue even after the implementation of the new RON95 fuel subsidy policy. If Anwar has the balls, he should raise the RON95 price to match Singapore pump’s price, and prosecute everyone involved in smuggling activities at the borders.
But the spineless, clueless and incompetent Anwar would rather make life difficult for 16 million Malaysian eligible drivers by forcing them to use MyKad (and raises privacy concerns due to data storage, potential misuse, and lack of laws protecting against unauthorized access) than to nip smuggling and corruption in the bud. He wanted gullible people to feel grateful for enjoying RM1.99 a litre.
Sure, a Honda City owner could become a millionaire overnight with a saving of RM2.40 per 40-litres fuel tank. A poor owner of a 4-litre motorbike could certainly become a billionaire within a year by saving RM0.24 at every visit to the pump. Anwar, who previously cried a river over the mahakaya enjoying RON95, now says the super-rich too are entitled to subsidized petrol under the excuse that Madani recognises and appreciates Malaysian citizens.
Hilariously, Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah said vehicles with foreign number plates will “not” be permitted to purchase subsidised RON95 petrol. But how does the government plan to control this when it can’t stop the foreigners from abusing the system now? And what is there to stop motorbike owners or e-hailing drivers – even small time traders – from buying and selling the petrol for a quick profit?
From the beginning, the prime minister’s crusade to target the top-15% earners was a strategic error. The mega-rich, who happens to be mostly Anwar’s cronies, could easily pass on the extra cost associate with higher fuel price to consumers and spark inflation, which in turn will anger the poor and medium earners, who in turn will punish Anwar during the election.
Not only Anwar was afraid of Mahakaya, but was also spooked by the Generation-Z uprising in Asia, especially Indonesia and Nepal. Both nations were facing mounting pressure from young people and the broader public, who were disillusioned with government performance, widening economic inequality, corruption and entrenched elite privilege – similar problems in Malaysia.
Amir’s response to critics about the RM2.5 billion saving could provoke the Generation-Z. The young people saw how despicable Anwar halved jail sentence for elite politicians like former PM Najib Razak and slashed his RM210 fine to RM50 million. Public funds to the tune of RM2 billion were also allocated to JAKIM, whilst RM200 million was given to Hamas terrorist with a snap of a finger.
Anwar’s chicken out after talking big for 3 years could mean he might have received military intelligence reports suggesting that his disastrous leadership could see a major defeat if a national election is held tomorrow, hence he panicked and pulled the hand-brake on removing subsidies for the wealthy.But there’s another political reason for the U-turn.
PKR president Anwar Ibrahim used to promise that petrol prices will drop the very next day the opposition he led won the election. With the possibility of a snap election as early as next year (2026), he has to fullfil his promise to address growing public disquiet about the rising cost of living, including a cash handout for all adult citizens and a promise to lower fuel prices.
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September 25th, 2025 by financetwitter
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