BANGI: Fees for tertiary education can be at a minimum if the government can control the amount of subsidies given to the people, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"If you ask me, personally, I think education should be made free from primary school to university, except for the rich.
"But we have to reduce the number of subsidies given. As I have said before, 40 per cent of government subsidies are being enjoyed by the rich," he said at a Cakna Madani programme with Public Service Department (PSD) scholars here today.
He said the government had reviewed subsidies for those in the top 20 income group (T20), including for electricity and the Haj.
By cutting electricity for the T20, he added, the government would save up to RM10 billion in subsidies.
"They say I am 'zalim' (cruel) for taking away Haj subsidies… the rich earning RM50,000 a month should not be subsidised for Haj, they should pay.
The rich using big expensive cars are the ones enjoying the subsidies more than the normal folk.
"If we can control all this, then the cost of education can be at a minimum. Give us time," he added.
In May, Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, had announced that households with high electricity consumption would no longer enjoy government subsidies, and also announced that the government would not provide subsidies for the T20 category to perform the Haj.
He previously said 90 per cent of the people would not be affected by the increase in electricity tariff, including owners of small-medium enterprises and those in the food industry.