Malaysia's Minister for Economic Affairs Azmin Ali said on Sunday, August 26, that cash handouts to poor Malaysians such as the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) should be stopped as they are "considered a politically-motivated bribe to gain support", reported The Star Online.

He added that the government has a new economic strategy to replace BR1M and is focusing on "prospering the people instead of bribing and taking them for granted".

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BR1M will be abolished

Azmin's comments had invited a series of tweet responses from UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who said that if the cash handouts are part of corruption, then the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government should also stop paying 'bonuses' and 'duit raya' (green envelopes) to civil servants.

Previously, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced on Saturday, August 25, that the Malaysian government would slowly reduce BR1M payouts before calling it off completely.

He said that the handouts make recipients "become financially dependent on the government" and believe they are "entitled to money without doing any work".

Mixed responses

Reactions from Malaysian netizens have been mixed so far.

While many support the move, many more do not, remaining skeptical of the PH government's performance after its shock victory in the latest election.

Those in favour

Those opposed

Some accused the PH government of singing a different tune after they won the election.

What did PH promise?

The PH manifesto had stated that BR1M would be retained for the B40 group, which includes Malaysians in the lowest income bracket, or below RM3,000 (~S$999) per month.

Earlier in March, then Penang Chief Minister and current Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng also said that the PH can continue giving out cash handouts even if it does away with the Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to The Sun Daily.

Cash handouts are a main fixture of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

The BR1M initiative was started in 2012 by former Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Previously, in April this year, he had announced a substantial increase in BR1M handouts to those eligible to receive it, citing Malaysia's strong economy as a reason.

It was renamed Bantuan Sara Hidup by the PH government after it took power in May.

Top image via ntv7 7Edition