KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Tambun-PH) offered a brief language lesson in the Dewan Rakyat today regarding the use of ‘maha’ to describe affluent members of society in the 2024 Supply Bill.
This came after several lawmakers apparently questioned his usage of the term to describe those in the higher income bracket, as they claimed the term should only be reserved for God, and for people, at most, the royalty.
Providing examples of how the term is used in a variety of ways, Anwar – who also serves as the Finance Minister – included former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the list.
“The word ‘maha’ is a (forbidden) term. How is ‘mahasiswa’ (student) allowed? There are more similar terms… Mahathir?” he quipped when winding up the 2024 Supply Bill for the Finance Ministry, which was met with lighthearted cheers in the August house.
Anwar said the usage of ‘maha’ was a matter of language theory and depends on the context of situations, as the term is used more frequently nowadays.
Meanwhile, the prime minister also said he was not against the rich, but the category could no longer benefit from subsidies and charity.
“It is not that we (the government) are angry that they are rich, but all the subsidy programmes – diesel, oil, and chicken – this all benefitted them. We want to avoid this from happening, so we (implement) the targeted subsidies.
“If this method burdens the rakyat, we will not change the subsidy policies, but provide additional injections to the Rahmah Cash Donation that will benefit nine million people through government assistance,” he added. – November 2, 2023