PRIME MINISTER Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Permatang Pauh constituency remained personally significant to him despite now representing Tambun in Perak.
“Although I am now the Member of Parliament for Tambun, where did I start? Permatang Pauh. How could I forget? This is our hometown. I have contested in Port Dickson and Tambun but my heart is in Permatang Pauh. This is where it started,” he said.
Speaking at the launch of the Permatang Pauh “Entrepreneurial Emergence Plan” and the presentation of assistance to micro-entrepreneurs and traders in Bukit Mertajam today, Anwar said economic opportunities should be expanded at grassroots level.
Anwar, who represented Permatang Pauh before later contesting and winning in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, said he had instructed relevant officials to ensure the constituency continued to receive development assistance.
“It doesn’t matter where you do it, but you must help Permatang Pauh, because this is my place, my hometown, and my state,” he said.
He recalled his early years as Permatang Pauh MP and Education Minister, including efforts to strengthen education in the constituency and the establishment of the Mengkuang Teachers’ College.
Anwar also praised a local initiative in which qualified religious teachers visit families to teach children to recite the Quran.
He said he had discussed the initiative with Education Minister Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek and that the “Permatang Pauh experience” could eventually be expanded nationwide if it produced positive results.
On grassroots livelihoods, Anwar proposed a two-year exemption from rental payments for local traders and operators using land belonging to religious councils to give their businesses time to become established.
“They can pay the rent later when they make money. Can we waive it for the next two years?” he said.
He said the proposal reflected the Government’s broader approach of helping disadvantaged communities build sustainable livelihoods rather than remain dependent on government assistance.
He said capital assistance to help people expand their businesses could have a more lasting impact than seasonal cash aid by enabling recipients to generate sustainable incomes.
The assistance was distributed under the Special Entrepreneur (Sub) Madani scheme to support micro-entrepreneurs and traders who had been left out of other Federal initiatives.
Anwar said the Government should prioritise empowering working-class Malaysians rather than catering to the interests of a small elite.
He said Malaysia had sufficient resources, but leakages had prevented wealth from reaching communities at the grassroots.
Turning to gambling controls, Anwar said the number of annual lucky-draw days permitted for gaming outlets had been reduced to seven from 22 during the previous Perikatan Nasional administration.
He said the move was aimed at encouraging greater prudence and reducing the social impact of gambling.
“It was PN who allowed lucky draw slots up to 22 when they ruled the country. Under me, it was reduced,” he said.
Anwar said he was clarifying the matter to ensure that the public was presented with facts rather than what he described as half-truths and slander.
He also said he had chosen not to take a salary as prime minister, saying he wanted to demonstrate that political leadership could still be based on integrity and public service.
Anwar said stronger moral values were also important in preventing corruption, particularly among Muslims, and expressed hope that Muslims would understand the basic teachings of the Quran as a guide to ethical conduct. - August 29, 2026
