Speaking at the Youth Economic Forum here today, Anwar stressed the need for Malaysians to cultivate the values of empathy and compassion to address issues such as urban poverty, regardless of ethnic groups.

“This must be the new narrative. It’s not about Malays against Chinese. The majority of the poor are Malays, some Indians in the estate sector, Chinese, small in number but still they’re a part of our big Malaysia family, and those in Sabah and Sarawak.

“If you don’t show enough concern, care or compassion, then don’t talk about race, don’t talk about religion, don’t talk about shared prosperity,” he said.

Anwar said that if the youths of today were to reach out in compassion, the country would see a new generation of youths who carry such values.

He hoped that young Malaysians would be able to carry this narrative and address the pressing issue of poverty, adding that his generation had failed to do so.

“I have great expectations and hopes that with this sort of exchange and discourse, you will affect that change that we, the older generation, have not been too successful at.

“The general comradeship among students in the 1960s was far better than what it is now. Having said that, it reflects the failure of governance.

“We were too busy having leaders making money and helping their cronies than assisting the people,” he said.