KUALA LUMPUR - Barisan Nasional (BN) on Monday unveiled an election manifesto that centred on education and the rising cost of living, and included measures to encourage diversity and inclusiveness. Assistance for the bottom 40 per cent of Malaysia’s income-earners (B40) was top of the agenda, and comprised free higher education and free laptops for these households. The manifesto also outlined a new welfare distribution scheme called Assistive Basic Income, which would help households earn at least RM2,208 (S$666) a month and make absolute poverty a thing of the past. The coalition believes that education is “a powerful weapon in...