Dr M: Why are grads selling nasi lemak and driving Uber?

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today blamed the government for failing to provide an education that prepares graduates for the job market.
He said the country does not have enough high-income jobs and it is not something to boast about when our graduates have to work as nasi lemak sellers and Uber drivers.
"They are bearing the burden of not having a proper income. They are forced to sell nasi lemak because they do not have job opportunities. We are training them to their full potential, not to be Uber drivers and nasi lemak sellers," Mahathir said during a question-and-answer session during PH's policy talk on Facebook today.
"This is the failure of the government," said the 92-year-old chairman of federal Pakatan Harapan.
"If we want them to sell nasi lemak we should have a university that teaches them how to sell nasi lemak. We don't have that kind of university."
Mahathir added that in his speech earlier that the youth unemployment rate (11%) is three times more than the current national average (3%).
He said instead of increasing budget allocations to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Putrajaya should be building up the education system.
"What we see is that the government is reducing the education budget allocation. Like university (allocations), the budget is reduced to RM1.1 billion and we find that there is more allocation for the PMO; three to four times more than my time," he said.