PARLIAMENT | Shades of class warfare coloured the Dewan Rakyat this morning, as opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail raised questions on public welfare to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Wan Azizah was heckled repeatedly by BN lawmakers as she spoke about high government debt, alleged difficulties the people were facing in securing housing and car loans, and rising inflation.

Deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee tried to impose order, but when the heckling did not stop, Wan Azizah responded with sass.

"Nevermind you rich MPs, I am speaking for the musthadafin (those living in poverty and hardship)," she said.

She then continued with her speech, raising points such as the Statistics Department's latest employment figures, which showed that as of May 2017, 507,500 Malaysians were without jobs.

"So what can the prime minister do? Yes, productivity is up, but what's the point if you don't have a job? " Wan Azizah asked before sitting down.

She was asking an additional question, to that of Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin) who wanted to know if the government was on track to achieving high-income nation status by 2020.

The opposition had earlier heckled Ahmad when he was asking an additional question, telling him to "hurry up" as he was taking a long time.

While Najib praised Ahmad for being attentive and detailed, he teased Azizah's question which was equally long as being a "mini lecture".

"But that's okay, if the opposition didn't do this it would be hard for them politically," the prime minister said.

Najib then told the House that the country's debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio had gone down from 54 percent to 52.5 percent.

He said the government was on track to having a balanced budget.

Najib then added that the government would always work to ensure the public benefits from its policies, hinting at more goodies from Putrajaya in the months to come.