Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah said that there is no reason that Malaysians should be poor, because there are plenty of opportunities for them to be well-off.

"When some say Malaysia's economy is lagging behind, the people are poor, they’re wrong.

“We are not like debt-ridden Bangladesh and we are not like the Philippines. They (those who say Malaysia is poor) are confusing the rakyat," he said at the 1Malaysia Entrepreneurship (1MeT) graduation day.

Irwan Serigar also claimed that those who are poor are in situations of their own making...