“The greatest fear I have is whether we can change our attitudes and behaviours.

“We can’t even stand to one side of the escalator despite repeated reminders. We still can’t sort our rubbish.

“These are things I don’t know how to teach the people; because these are the markers of civilisation,” he said in his speech at the National Aspiration Leadership Summit (NALS) 2017 today at Putra World Trade Centre, here.

He said the way Malaysians behaved on the road could also do with some improvement.

Khairy said that in the UK, when someone high-beamed you, it meant “your way”.

“You know what that means in Malaysia?

“I’m a minister and I’m not going to spell that out for you.”

The Rembau MP also quoted what former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said when he announced his resignation in 2003.

“Mahathir said: ‘One of the greatest things I apologise for is that I couldn’t change the Malays enough’.

“It applies to everyone. We cannot change Malaysians enough. You can have the best laid plan and the road map to (become) the top 20 nations, but without attitudinal, behavioural changes in Malaysia, you are not going to make it.

“Pak Lah (former premier Abdullah Badawi) gave a speech about the future of world class facilities and third world mentalities. So whether we can become a first world facility with (a first world) mentality is a good question for TN50.”

Khairy challenged the 500 youths at the event to propose ways to improve the nation through the TN50 initiative.

“Please don’t take this as an excuse for government propaganda. I’m going to listen to every single suggestion. I want you to tell me what you want.”

Transformasi Nasional 2050, or TN50, is a 30-year transformation plan introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak during the tabling of Budget 2017 last year.

It aims to create a new “vision” for the nation and to transform Malaysia into a nation of calibre.