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By Mihar Dias November 2024
If there’s one thing Malaysians love, it’s a leader who claims to forgo salary in service to the rakyat while quietly sitting on enough assets to make most of us rethink our life choices. Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, ranked 17th out of the world’s 18 richest leaders, has allegedly amassed USD2.4 million (roughly RM11 million) in assets. That’s just shy of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong but leagues behind Vladimir Putin, who could probably buy Malaysia outright with his USD200 billion.
To his credit, Anwar kept his promise to waive his salary as Prime Minister—an act of performative austerity that warms the hearts of Malaysians struggling to afford RM20 nasi campur. But as it turns out, when you’re worth millions, skipping a government paycheck isn’t exactly a hardship. Anwar, it seems, can afford to feed himself just fine without taxpayers footing the bill.
One might wonder, though: if the man is so financially secure, why does he seem so eager to flaunt his frugality? He declared his house and three plots of land in 2022 with the zeal of a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Transparent Politician? He even refused to use a luxurious Mercedes-Benz limo left behind by a predecessor, as if driving anything more opulent than a Proton would make him unfit to lecture us on belt-tightening.
But let’s not be too cynical. Anwar’s modest assets are a drop in the ocean compared to his ASEAN counterparts. Bongbong Marcos of the Philippines boasts USD3.6 million, likely including his family’s famous “borrowed” wealth, while Singapore’s Lawrence Wong ties with Justin Trudeau at USD5 million. It’s comforting to know that even in this club of elite millionaires, Anwar is the underdog—proof that Malaysia Boleh, but not too much.
Of course, wealth rankings like these raise uncomfortable questions. How does one accumulate RM11 million on a civil servant’s salary? Was it savvy investment? Divine providence? Or perhaps a lifetime of scrupulous saving, where every sen was meticulously budgeted, and every indulgence avoided? Surely, the man who refused a limo is no stranger to frugality.
Meanwhile, Malaysians are left to ponder their own financial realities, where owning even a single piece of land feels like a distant dream. The average citizen doesn’t have the luxury of declaring millions in assets before an election; they’re too busy declaring bankruptcy. But at least we can take comfort in Anwar’s sacrifice—his selflessness in not taking a salary, his bravery in owning “just” RM11 million, and his unwavering commitment to leading by example.
Perhaps we’ve misunderstood Anwar. He doesn’t need a salary because he’s already mastered the delicate art of living within his means—means that just happen to be significantly larger than most of ours. So let’s give him a round of applause. After all, it’s not every day that a leader teaches us that being rich isn’t about how much you earn but how little you spend.
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