Describing the subsidy as unfair, Youth No. 2 Khairy Jamaluddin said the amount represents about 25% of the country’s revenue – and it can build two Putrajaya, nine Penang bridges and 500,000 low-cost houses.

Speaking off-the-cuff in a rapid-fire style, and occasionally glancing at his notes in his debate on the resolution on economy and education, Khairy said: "In the past, our mega projects were the Petronas Twin Towers, bridges and highways, but now our mega project is subsidy.

"Subsidy will become our burden in the future. If we were to stop the subsidy, it is like committing suicide for the government. But the youth wing suggests we should stop these unfair subsidies and give it back to the people who really need it."

"Imagine those who refuel at the petrol stations. A "pakcik" (elder) on a small motorbike will pay only RM1.92 for a litre, but look at those in Mercedes. They still pay the same price. Why do we need to subsidise those who are rich?"

He said if the subsidy is removed, and prices go up, the people will learn to economise.

"In 2011, the country will become a net oil importer. It is the royalty from Petronas that gives us our subsidy and when the time arrives, we will lose our subsidy."

He said the government may need to revise fuel prices next year as the world crude prices had breached US$100 a barrel.

However, he cautioned that if this should be done, "please inform the people earlier so that we can prepare ourselves, so that the people would not be burdened, and not make the announcement a day before the new price".

Khairy took to task private companies which choose to list abroad and are willing to invest billions of ringgit on the entertainment business in other countries instead of investing in the growth corridor projects of the government.

"We are saddened that they did not even look at the potential in our country, which gave them concessions over the years."

He said if investors from the Middle East are willing to pump RM4 billion in our country, "why not our own private sector?"

"We do not stop companies from spreading their wings and in fact we are proud of them, but I hope they will help the country to succeed in the corridor projects and achieve the national mission as well as bringing in foreign investors."

On government-linked-companies (GLC), he said Khazanah Nasional Bhd spent RM500 million to form a company called Malaysia Agro-Food Cooperation (MAFC), but until today, "we are yet to hear that the company has managed to help Malay farmers penetrate the supply chain".

"I was saddened to hear that the MAFC has gone to do its own business and make its own profit. We hope such companies can help the president and the government achieve their vision."

On education, Khairy conveyed the Umno grassroots’ wish to revert to the use of Bahasa Malaysia to teach science and mathematics.

"We do not ask secondary schools to do so, but only for primary schools to go back to the original (method).

"We are not anti-progress, it does not mean that the Malays have given up and we are not brave and we cannot study science and mathematics in English, but this is what we hear from the Malay grassroots.

"They told us that it is not easy for their children who are seven-year-old regardless if they are from the rural or urban areas to learn these technical subjects in English.

"English has become a wall to stop the children from understanding mathematics and science because they learn in the hard way and that the knowledge is not absorbed."

He suggested that an alternative is to improve the teaching of English, by perhaps introducing English literature.

Khairy also called for teaching methods to be reviewed to make students think out of the box and to question. "If teachers are unable to think out of the box, what about the students?"

On the supply chain, Khairy said this has become a Malay agenda because this is being monopolised by other races in every industry.

"For example, the construction sector is being monopolised by other races, all building materials are controlled by non-Malay companies. This is a structural weakness."

Khairy also expressed sadness that for the first time in Umno history, not many people could read the president’s policy speech in the newspapers, except for Utusan Malaysia and Oriental Daily, because the media supply chain of vendors and distributor is monopolised by a race.

He said in agriculture, the Malays are supposed to link with the industry but the supply chain of wholesalers, marketers, processors are all monopolised by non-Malays.