He said the related government agencies and ministries must take care of these students and make sure that they are registered with their desired universities.

“Some families from Ampang and Tambun told me they had to turn down (university) offers because they could not afford them,” Anwar said during the finance ministry’s monthly assembly.

“For the first time in history, I have given the order that none of our children can be rejected by any university.”

He added that these students must be able to register with a university first before the government steps in to provide monetary support.

‘Retarget subsidies’

Meanwhile, Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said a large chunk of the subsidies to control the price of chicken and egg benefited foreigners and those in the T20 income bracket.

“This is why the government has to retarget such subsidies in order to benefit the less fortunate,” he added.

He emphasised that the subsidies have always been meant to reduce the people’s burden, especially those from middle-income and low-income households.

Referring to the government’s decision to stop giving T20 Muslims any subsidies from Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH), Anwar said this would only affect 10% of the population.

“We are not trying to restrict those who are well off. Instead, we are just taking some of the subsidies back from the T20 families,” he said.