Anwar quizzed on whether Top Glove was asked to help rubber tappers

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was today asked if he had instructed companies like Top Glove Corporation Bhd to share their profits with rubber tappers after the gains reaped as a result of an increased demand for gloves and other rubber products during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Kubang Kerian MP Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man raised the question in light of Anwar's direction for tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary to share Bernas profits with padi farmers. 

Anwar however appeared to evade the question.

"There are currently 60 industry giants including multinationals that need to cover the funding of technical education and vocation training (TVET)," he said during the question-and-answer session in Parliament. 

"They partly take over and help with maintenance and the training of students at the company's expense. 

"These include Sunway, Berjaya, Tenaga, Telekom and government-linked companies." 

Anwar said the Albukhary group had also offered to help a TVET institute in Pekan, Pahang. 

He said it was the government's approach to ask companies to help those in need directly.  

He also said that the authority to grant tax exemptions lay with the director-general of the Inland Revenue Board, not the prime minister or the finance ministry.  

Shortly after taking the top office, Anwar, the MP for Tambun, had asked Bernas to pay a total of RM60 million to padi farmers throughout the country. 

Top Glove meanwhile recorded a profit of RM7.98 billion in 2021, an increase of 346% compared to the previous year.

This came amid proposals for a windfall tax on the company as well as several others.