The government has been criticised for allocating more funds to defence than healthcare in the 13th Malaysia Plan, with an opposition MP questioning the administration’s priorities.
Debating the plan in the Dewan Rakyat today, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang) said only RM40 billion was allocated to healthcare, while RM51 billion was set aside for defence.
“In fact, the allocation for defence has doubled compared with the RM27 billion in the 11th Malaysia Plan. This is not fair. We are facing all sorts of problems in the healthcare sector. Wouldn’t it be better to increase the allocation for healthcare instead?
“Hospitals are overcrowded. There’s a shortage of doctors. Yet we are overspending on defence,” he said.
He said the overall development plan also failed to generate any excitement, as the allocation was relatively small, just RM15 billion in additional funds over five years, or RM3 billion a year.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim previously said a total of RM611 billion was needed to roll out the 13MP.
But Wan Fayhsal said the total sum included RM120 billion funded by GLCs and GLICs and another RM61 billion through public-private partnerships.
“This is misleading. We have never included GLC spending in the official calculations before,” he said.
The Bersatu MP also cast doubt on the government’s plan to build one million “affordable rooms” over 10 years.
“Under the 12MP, the target was 500,000 units. But as of March 2025, only 178,000 have been built. How will this (new target) be achieved? Who is responsible?
“There is no mention of PR1MA in this document,” he said, referring to the housing scheme.
“PR1MA Corporation is supposed to be the agency in charge of building affordable rooms for the M40. What are the targets and fund allocations for PR1MA in this plan?”
Wan Fayhsal also criticised the absence of key indicators related to inter-ethnic equity in the 13MP.
“For the first time in a Malaysia Plan, there are no indicators or targets for closing the income gap between ethnic groups, the monthly wage ratio between races, Bumiputera enterprise contributions to GDP, or Bumiputera equity ownership,” he said.
He warned that regional inequality was set to widen under the 13MP.
The economy in poorer areas such as the east coast was only projected to grow at 4.7% a year, the lowest among all peninsular areas, he said. In the south, it’s 5.1%, the central region 5%, and the north 5.2%.
“For economic gaps between regions to narrow, growth in underdeveloped regions must be faster than in advanced ones. But that is not going to happen under this plan,” he said.
