Khairy was referring to Anwar’s remarks at an Aidilfitri open house in Penang on Saturday where the prime minister called on Malay leaders and tycoons who claimed to defend Malay rights but had instead enriched themselves and their families to give up half of their profits to help the community.

Anwar, however, did not mention any names.

“He is already the prime minister, why does he need to challenge people like this?” Khairy said in an episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast.

“If there are those who have embezzled money, why not ask enforcement agencies to investigate them, or make laws or policies which can distribute these people’s wealth?

“This is petty and unbecoming of a prime minister and finance minister. It’s almost immature, to be honest.”

Khairy added that it would seem as if Anwar was trying to “take the easy way out” by not formulating policies to distribute wealth, and instead, challenging those who he claimed had embezzled money to share their profit with others.

He said that while Anwar also used his speech to announce extra allocations to the Islamic development department (Jakim) and Islamic religious schools, those points would be overshadowed by his other comments in Penang.