KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — Malay rights group Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali said today that he agrees with the recent increase in cigarette duties but said the government should impose the same hike on alcohol and gambling.

The funds, he added, should be channelled to a special education fund to help the non-Bumiputeras.

He pointed out that the gambling industry rakes in billions of ringgit, and said he was baffled why there has been no revision in its taxes for a long time.

“It is a wise decision [to increase cigarette prices]. The reason cigarette prices are increased is to deter people from smoking but I’m baffled by how the gambling taxes haven’t been increased in a long while,” he told reporters today here at Perkasa headquarters.

“They should increase it, and put aside the money and call it the ‘Malaysians Scholarship Fund’ which would be meant for non-Bumiputera. And I believe if it was just a five per cent increase, we could raise billions.”

He said by setting up such a fund, more Bumiputera students could benefit from Public Service Department (JPA) scholarship, which he said was only RM1.6 billion and has to be shared among everyone.

“There are many Bumiputeras who deserve scholarships who end up taking loans because so many students apply from the same source,” he said.

He added that the suggestion was proof that Perkasa was not anti non-Bumiputera.

“We are not anti-Muslim or anti-non-Bumiputera. They are Malaysians too. It is just that we believe that we have our rights as well, as enshrined in the Constitution,” he said.

Cigarettes in the country saw an increase in prices yesterday following a hike in excise duties of over 40 per cent by the federal government, with some premium brands seeing a big jump from RM13.80 to RM17.